By John Henderson for CPR News
Lindsey Vonn said she didn’t cry. Well, she did once. She cried Monday when she stopped outside Innsbruck, Austria, at the grave of her childhood ski coach, Erich Sailer.
In fact, the Colorado skiing legend smiled all through Tuesday’s news conference when she announced that her epic return for a fourth Olympic medal, at 41, after a five-year retirement and a partially replaced knee, faces a mountain higher than the one she crashed on Jan. 30.
When she said she had ruptured her anterior cruciate ligament, damaged her meniscus and suffered a bone bruise, an audible gasp surfaced from the 100-plus Olympics reporters crammed in a conference room.
It was the first news of the status of the Olympic gold medalist who exploded from the anonymity of retirement to lead this season’s World Cup downhill standings and make two podiums in the Super-G.
But before anyone could ask for reflections on her suddenly dead career, she made another announcement, almost as startling.
“Today, I went skiing,” she said. “Considering how my knee feels, how stable and strong – my knee is not swollen – I am confident I can compete on Sunday.”
What?
Injuries are nothing new to Vonn. Her injury list would make an NFL lineman shudder. Her comebacks are nothing new, either. But this week, she was on a fast track to become the biggest story in these Milano Cortina Winter Olympics. No athlete in any sport had ever risen to the level Vonn is reaching after a five-year layoff and a partial right knee replacement, let alone at 41.
Then came Friday’s crash in the last pre-Olympics World Cup downhill in Crans Montana, Switzerland, when she flew awkwardly off the first turn, crashed hard and wound up in the fencing. She remained motionless for a few minutes and so did the Olympics.
She received the MRI on her left knee on Tuesday yet her resolve remained.
“This isn’t my first rodeo,” she said.
She pointed to the 2019 World Championships in Are, Sweden, when, already suffering from nerve damage in her knee and eyeing retirement, she crashed in the Super-G and suffered multiple bruises. Five days later, she won bronze in the downhill.
“I feel a lot better right now than when I was injured in the 2019 World Championships and still got a medal,” she said. “This is not an unknown thing. I’ve done this before. This is where I am and I’ll do the best I can.”
Vonn, who began training in Vail when she was 12, will know more after her first training run Thursday. Another training session is scheduled for Friday with the downhill competition set for Sunday at 3:30 a.m. MST.
“I have to see how it feels,” she said. “If it’s stable and I feel confident, I’ll continue to race. But I can’t give an answer until I hit 85 mph. That’ll tell you.”
It’s still a bit mind boggling that she sat in front of the world’s Olympic media Tuesday. In April 2024, she had her right knee partially replaced just so she could walk without pain or a limp, the compilation of 19 years on the World Cup circuit.
The knee responded so well, she returned to the U.S. Ski Team. After a so-so 2024-25 season, she has defied logic, modern medicine and, some of her critics say, common sense.
This season she finished on the podium in all five of her downhills until Friday. That included wins in St. Moritz, Switzerland, Dec. 12 and Zauchensee, Austria, Jan. 10. Her 400 points far surpasses the 256 of second-place Emma Aicher of Germany. Vonn looked headed for her 21st World Cup Crystal Globe, her ninth in downhill.
This comes on the heels of 84 World Cup wins, including a record 45 in the downhill, an Olympic gold medal in the downhill and bronzes in the downhill and Super-G.
Now she just hopes to see the next starting gate.
“I know what my chances were before the crash and I know my chances aren’t the same as it stands today, but I know there’s still a chance,” she said. “As long as there’s a chance, I will try.”
The good news is she says there is no pain. Also, many skiers compete without an ACL. But how many have done it at 41 and a year out of retirement?
Also, after the downhill, she is scheduled to compete in the Super-G, where she is third in the World Cup standings. She was also lining up to team with fellow Coloradoan Olympic gold medalist Mikaela Shiffrin in the inaugural combined team event.
Smiling broadly in her snow-white team parka, Vonn mentioned numerous times that she didn’t want to leave Cortina with any regrets.
“Unfortunately, in my career, I’ve had a lot of challenges,” she said. “I’ve always pushed the limits. Downhill is a very dangerous sport. Anything can happen. And when you push the limits, you crash. I’ve been injured more times than I’d like to admit to myself. But those are the cards I’ve been dealt in life, and I’m going to play those cards the best that I can.”
Because she doesn’t like to admit to her injuries, she should skip these next two paragraphs. Her 2006-07 season ended with a sprained ACL in training. She injured her tibia in a crash before the 2012 Olympics, yet still won the downhill and bronze in the Super-G.
In February 2013, she tore her right ACL and was out eight months. In November that year she injured the same knee that knocked out her season and the Sochi Olympics. Then came the crash in the 2019 World Championships.
Now this.
“Thankfully, all the experiences in my life have given me a lot of confidence in knowing what I can and can not do,” she said. “I’ve been in this situation before. I know how to handle it.”
Her famous resolve came through. The press conference was peppered with a lot of ifs, ands and buts. Vonn cut through it all.
“I will make the starting gate,” she said. “This has already been one of the best chapters of my life. This would be the best comeback so far. Definitely the most dramatic. That’s for sure. But I think if you’ve looked at everything I’ve been through in my life, in my skiing career and my life in general, I’ve been through a lot.
“This has been another amazing chapter. But it’ll be a pretty damn good comeback if I pull it off.”
John Henderson is a former sportswriter for The Denver Post and lives in Italy.
