MILAN — A partial knee replacement in her right leg wasn’t enough to stop Lindsey Vonn from pursuing her Olympic comeback. Neither will a new left torn anterior cruciate ligament.
Vonn revealed she suffered a torn ACL in a crash last week but remains focused on racing in the Milan-Cortina Olympics.
“If my knee is not stable, I can’t compete and at the moment, it is stable and it is strong,” Vonn said during a virtual press conference from Cortina d’Ampezzo. “… So far so good but we have to take it day by day. But if it remains the way it is now, I think I’m pretty solid.”
The 41-year-old Vonn was named to the Olympic team seven years after she retired from the sport. She underwent a partial knee replacement in April 2024 and quietly began her comeback. She proved herself as more than just a feel-good story by finishing second in the Super G in Sun Valley, Idaho last March for her first World Cup podium in seven years and her first World Cup win since 2018 at St. Mortiz in Switzerland in December.
Vonn was racing at a World Cup event last week when she lost control while attempting to land a jump. She slid into the safety netting. While a torn ACL typically sends athletes straight to the operating room, Vonn said surgery was not a discussion.
“The Olympics are the only thing that I’m thinking about,” Vonn said. “Every day my knee’s gotten better and every day, we’re discussing with the full medical team, doctors, physios, everyone.”
The women’s downhill competition begins Sunday. Vonn, who has hopes to also race in the Super G and the team event, said her “intention is to race everything.”
