{"id":217717,"date":"2026-05-02T15:27:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-02T15:27:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/217717\/"},"modified":"2026-05-02T15:27:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-02T15:27:17","slug":"lindsey-vonn-plans-to-take-first-steps-without-crutches-at-met-gala","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/217717\/","title":{"rendered":"Lindsey Vonn plans to take first steps without crutches at Met Gala"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lindsey Vonn said she is targeting a major recovery milestone at this year\u2019s Met Gala.<\/p>\n

The 2010 Olympic gold medal winner in downhill revealed that she plans to take her first steps without crutches during the event following a severe leg injury suffered in a crash at this year\u2019s Winter Olympics<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The 41-year-old alpine skier \u2014 who has undergone multiple surgeries for the injury<\/a> \u2014 has been using crutches in recent public appearances but said her goal is to walk short distances unassisted at the Met Gala on Monday night.<\/p>\n

In an interview with CNN News Central<\/a>, Vonn spoke about her plans in New York.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a few stairs. Yes, it\u2019s going to be intense,\u201d she acknowledged. \u201cI was like, can I do this? Can I do this? You know, Thom Browne asked me a long time ago. And I love Thom. We did a campaign together during COVID. And it\u2019s been like the thing that I\u2019m like, can I get there? Like, you know, it\u2019s like been the light at the end of the tunnel. And I\u2019m going to try to walk.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"LindseyLindsey Vonn is seen in Midtown on April 30, 2026 in New York City. GC Images<\/p>\n

Vonn added, \u201cIt\u2019s, like, technically supposed to be my first day of walking a little bit without crutches. So from the start to the top of the stairs, if I can make it with no crutches, that\u2019s a huge win.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Vonn\u2019s progress comes less than three months after a devastating crash at the 2026 Winter Olympics ended her competition.<\/p>\n

The accident occurred during the women\u2019s downhill event in Italy, where she lost control just seconds into her run and suffered a complex fracture in her left leg.<\/p>\n

The injury was severe, causing Vonn to sustain multiple fractures, including damage to her tibia and surrounding structures, and she also dealt with compartment syndrome, which is a dangerous condition involving pressure buildup in the muscles that can restrict blood flow.<\/p>\n

At one point, doctors feared she could lose her leg<\/a> before emergency procedures stabilized the injury.<\/p>\n

\"LindseyLindsey Vonn of Team United States crashes during the Women\u2019s Downhill on day two of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics at Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre on February 08, 2026 in Cortina d\u2019Ampezzo, Italy. Getty Images<\/p>\n

She has since undergone eight surgeries as part of her length recovery process.<\/p>\n

For now, Vonn says she\u2019s still in \u201csurvival mode\u201d and not ready to reflect on the crash itself.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know, I think you have to be reflective. And I haven\u2019t really been able to be that reflective yet, because I\u2019m still in survival mode, you know,\u201d she told CNN. \u201cI\u2019m still really fighting my way through it. And I\u2019ve tried to start my \u2014 my therapy with my therapist. And I just can\u2019t really get there yet. And there will be a lesson. And, you know, I always try to look at the positives of everything.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe this is going to be the best thing that\u2019s ever happened to me in my life. Maybe some door will open that would never otherwise be open to me. So as horrible as this is and as hard as it is, like, who knows where the future will take me in? I\u2019m just kind of along for the ride.\u201d<\/p>\n

No timeline has been confirmed for a full recovery or a potential return to skiing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lindsey Vonn said she is targeting a major recovery milestone at this year\u2019s Met Gala. The 2010 Olympic…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":217718,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[85889,30959,9,24,55,54,56,15559,21998,319,2085,23717,53276],"class_list":["post-217717","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-lindsey-vonn","tag-met-gala","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-city-headlines","tag-new-york-city-news","tag-ny","tag-olympics","tag-skiing","tag-sports","tag-sports-entertainment","tag-winter-olympics","tag-winter-olympics-2026"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217717","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=217717"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217717\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/217718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=217717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=217717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=217717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}