Niamh Shackleton
2026 Olympics hopeful Lindsey Vonn has spoken out for the first time since crashing out on Sunday (February 8) and was airlifted off the course.
Vonn, 41, hit the slopes on Sunday despite rupturing her ACL days earlier. Vonn took part in test runs before her event and seemed okay, so she proceeded to compete as planned.
But tragedy struck when Vonn clipped one of the flags on her way down, and she came tumbling down.
The sports star could be heard screaming out in pain before she was eventually airlifted off to hospital.
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Limited information has been revealed since the devastating moment viewed by millions, other than it being confirmed that the 41-year-old had fractured her leg.
Now Vonn herself has spoken out for the first time in a lengthy post shared to Instagram.
She penned on Monday (February 9): "Yesterday my Olympic dream did not finish the way I dreamt it would. It wasn’t a story book ending or a fairy tail [sic], it was just life.
"I dared to dream and had worked so hard to achieve it. Because in Downhill ski racing the difference between a strategic line and a catastrophic injury can be as small as 5 inches.
"I was simply 5 inches too tight on my line when my right arm hooked inside of the gate, twisting me and resulted in my crash. My ACL and past injuries had nothing to do with my crash whatsoever."
Vonn went on to reveal that she has sustained a complex tibia fracture and, while she's currently in stable condition, she will need 'multiple surgeries' to fix it.
Her post continued: "While yesterday did not end the way I had hoped, and despite the intense physical pain it caused, I have no regrets. Standing in the starting gate yesterday was an incredible feeling that I will never forget.
"Knowing I stood there having a chance to win was a victory in and of itself. I also knew that racing was a risk. It always was and always will be an incredibly dangerous sport."
Doubling down on the fact that she doesn't regret her decision to race, Vonn said that people should take courage from her experience and should 'dare greatly'.
"Life is too short not to take chances on yourself. Because the only failure in life is not trying. I believe in you, just as you believed in me," she concluded.