Lindsey Vonn is back home in the US to continue treatment after she broke her leg during the Winter Olympic downhill.
“Haven’t stood on my feet in over a week… been in a hospital bed immobile since my race. And although I’m not yet able to stand, being back on home soil feels amazing,” Vonn posted on X with an American flag emoji. “Huge thank you to everyone in Italy for taking good care of me.”
The 41-year-old suffered a complex tibia fracture after she crashed early in her downhill run on 8 February. She was initially treated in hospital in Italy and underwent several surgeries on her injured leg. She has said she will need further surgery in the US.
Nine days before her fall in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Vonn ruptured the ACL in her left knee in another crash in Switzerland. Even before then, she had been the focus of attention heading into the Olympics for her comeback after nearly six years of retirement.
Vonn has said that she had “no regrets” about her decision to race. “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 on social media last week.
Her fellow skiers have also supported her. “It’s her choice [to race at the Olympics],” Italy’s Federica Brignone, who has won two gold medals at this year’s Games, said. “If it’s your body, then you decide what to do, whether to race or not. It’s not up to others. Only you.”
