Skier Lindsey Vonn has shared an emotional Instagram message after she was airlifted to hospital following a horror crash during the Winter Olympics
Amie Wilson and Bruna Reis
07:07, 10 Feb 2026Updated 07:16, 10 Feb 2026
Lindsey Vonn will require ‘multiple’ surgeries to fix a fractured tibia
Lindsey Vonn has shared a heart-wrenching update on social media following her shocking crash at the Winter Olympics. The American competitor endured a terrifying fall during the Women’s downhill Alpine skiing event early in her run on Sunday, necessitating an airlift to hospital.
Her cries of pain could be heard as numerous medical staff attended to her, with her personal doctor accompanying her to the hospital. The accident occurred as she endeavoured to compete despite having torn her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) just under two weeks prior.
News broke on Monday that the skier had undergone a second operation on a broken leg and had been transferred to intensive care for privacy, given the worldwide interest in her condition.
Taking to Instagram, Vonn posted a photo of her crash and provided a comprehensive update: “Yesterday my Olympic dream did not finish the way I dreamt it would. It wasn’t a story book ending or a fairy tail, 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. Unfortunately, I sustained a complex tibia fracture that is currently stable but will require multiple surgeries to fix properly.
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“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.
“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 the also the beauty of life; we can try.
Lindsey Vonn had to be transported by helicopter after crashing during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games
“I tried. I dreamt. I jumped. I hope if you take away anything from my journey it’s that you all have the courage to 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.”
The heartfelt, inspiring message and follows comments from Vonn’s father, Alan Kildow, who made clear his wish for his daughter to step away from skiing permanently.
“She’s 41 years old and this is the end of her career,” Kildow told The Associated Press.
“There will be no more ski races for Lindsey Vonn, as long as I have anything to say about it.”