Alpine ski great Vonn says she needs multiple surgeries for complex leg fracture but has no regrets

VIDEO SHOWS: GRAPHICS SHOWING LINDSEY VONN'S WRITTEN STATEMENT / A WRAP OF FOOTAGE FROM FEBRUARY 8 SHOWING VONN'S CRASH AND THE EVENTS UNFOLD / RECENT AND FILE FOOTAGE OF VONN SHOWS: GRAPHIC (FEBRUARY 9, 2026) (REUTERS – Access all) (MUTE) 1. GRAPHIC, READING (English): "Yesterday my Olympic dream did not finish the way I dreamt it would. It wasn’t a story book ending or a fairy tale, 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 five inches." 2. GRAPHIC, READING (English): "I was simply five 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. Unfortunately, I sustained a complex tibia fracture that is currently stable but will require multiple surgeries to fix properly." 3. GRAPHIC, READING (English): "While yesterday did not end the way I had hoped, and despite the intense physical pain it caused, I have no regrets. 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." 4. GRAPHIC, READING (English): "And similar to ski racing, we take risks in life. We dream. We love. We jump. And sometimes we fall. Sometimes our hearts are broken. Sometimes we don’t achieve the dreams we know we could have. But that is also the beauty of life; we can try. I tried. I dreamt. I jumped." CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, ITALY (FEBRUARY 8, 2026) (IOC/OBS – Access all) (MUTE) 5. STILL PHOTOGRAPHS OF  U.S. SKIER LINDSEY VONN HITTING GATE  6. STILL PHOTOGRAPHS OF VONN FLYING THROUGH AIR AFTER HITTING THE GATE 7. STILL PHOTOGRAPHS OF VONN CRASHING AND ROLLING ALONG THE SLOPE 8. STILL PHOTOGRAPH OF VONN LYING ON THE GROUND CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, ITALY (FEBRUARY 8, 2026) (REUTERS – Access all) 9. YELLOW HELICOPTER DESCENDING AFTER AIRLIFTING LINDSEY VONN FOLLOWING HER CRASH CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, ITALY (FEBRUARY 8, 2026) (REUTERS – Access all) (MUTE) 10. STILL PHOTOGRAPHS OF VONN BEING AIRLIFTED BY A HELICOPTER  CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, ITALY (FEBRUARY 8, 2026) (REUTERS – Access all) 11. VARIOUS OF AMBULANCES ARRIVING AT HOSPITAL  12. VARIOUS OF EXTERIORS OF HOSPITAL  13. VARIOUS OF SIGNS SAYING 'OLYMPIC POLYCLINIC' 14. SIGN SAYING OSPEDALE CORTINA 15. VARIOUS OF SIGNS AT FRONT OF HOSPITAL  CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, ITALY (FEBRUARY 8, 2026) (REUTERS – Access all) 16. AIR RESCUE TEAM AND MEDICAL STAFF PLACING A STRETCHER, BELIEVED TO BE CARRYING VONN, INTO BACK OF HELICOPTER 17. HELICOPTER TAKING OFF FROM THE GROUND 18. HELICOPTER CONTINUING TO RISE INTO THE AIR 19. OLYMPIC RINGS ON DISPLAY TREVISO, ITALY (FEBRUARY 9, 2026) (REUTERS – Access all) 20. EXTERIOR OF CA’ FONCELLO HOSPITAL WHERE U.S. SKIER LINDSEY VONN IS BEING TREATED 21. ENTRANCE OF INTENSIVE CARE UNIT 22. SIGN ON WALL READING (English and Italian): "Intensive Care Unit" 23. VARIOUS EXTERIORS OF HOSPITAL 24. CARABINIERI POLICE CAR ARRIVING AT HOSPITAL ST MORITZ, SWITZERLAND (FILE – DECEMBER 10, 2025) (REUTERS – Access all) 25. LINDSEY VONN ARRIVING AT PRESS CONFERENCE 26. VONN SEATED AT PRESS CONFERENCE  CRANS-MONTANA, SWITZERLAND (RECENT – JANUARY 30, 2026) (REUTERS – Access all) (MUTE) 27. VARIOUS (THREE) STILLS OF AMERICAN ALPINE SKI RACER VONN BEING AIRLIFTED AFTER CRASH 28. TWO STILL PHOTOGRAPHS OF VONN ON HER SKI RUN 29. STILL PHOTOGRAPH OF VONN BEING HELPED BY MEDICS AFTER HER INJURY STORY: Ski great Lindsey Vonn said she suffered a complex leg fracture in Sunday's downhill race at the Milano Cortina Olympics that will require multiple surgical operations. The 41-year-old added in an Instagram post that she had no regrets and that her anterior cruciate ligament rupture and other past injuries were not linked to the fall in her bid to win the gold, which went to her U.S. teammate Breezy Johnson. Vonn, the second most successful female World Cup skier of all time with 84 wins, has had two operations in Italy, a source said, to stabilize her after an horrific crash 13 seconds into one of the most hotly anticipated races at the Winter Olympics. "Yesterday my Olympic dream did not finish the way I dreamt it would. It wasn’t a story book ending or a fairy tale, 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 five inches," Vonn, who ruptured her ACL in a crash at a World Cup race in Switzerland 10 days ago, wrote. "I was simply five 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. "Unfortunately, I sustained a complex tibia fracture that is currently stable but will require multiple surgeries to fix properly. While yesterday did not end the way I had hoped, and despite the intense physical pain it caused, I have no regrets." Vonn's crash has highlighted a broader debate in elite sport over who decides when an injured athlete is fit to compete and what message those decisions send. Vonn, the 2010 Olympic champion, had been hoping to become the oldest Alpine skiing medallist in Games history after winning two World Cup downhills this year and finishing on the podium in the other three. She leads the downhill World Cup standings by 144 points and, while her season is over, she could still win the category's crystal globe. Vonn, who said nothing about her future, strongly felt she had a chance to win Sunday's race on a piste where she has claimed 12 World Cup wins. "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," she wrote. "And similar to ski racing, we take risks in life. We dream. We love. We jump. And sometimes we fall. Sometimes our hearts are broken. Sometimes we don’t achieve the dreams we know we could have. But that is also the beauty of life; we can try. "I tried. I dreamt. I jumped." (Production: Tim Hart)

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