Skiing icon Lindsey Vonn has spoken for the first time following her terrifying crash out on Sunday, February 8.
The Olympic hopeful, 41, was fresh was rupturing her ACL days earlier, leading to many to question whether she should have been on the slope at all. Adamant that she would still compete, however, and after completing tests runs prior to the event on Sunday, Vonn pushed through.
Yet there was to be no fairytale ending tfor the legendary ski star, as she clipped a gate on her way down and suffered a “catastrophic injury”.
Viewers heard the 41-year-old screaming in pain as she slid across the course. She was promptly airlifted by helicopter to a nearby hospital, where she underwent surgery for a broken leg.
Officials later confirmed that her condition was stable.
”She’ll be OK, but it’s going to be a bit of a process,” U.S. Alpine Director Anouk Patty told the Associated Press on Sunday afternoon. ”This sport’s brutal, and people need to remember when they’re watching, these athletes are throwing themselves down a mountain and going really, really fast.”
Vonn herself has now broken her silence to give fans an update as to her condition, taking to Instagram on February 9 to pen a lengthy message.
“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,” Vonn wrote.
“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 explained that she has sustained a complex tibia fracture that will require ‘multiple surgeries’ to fix.
“While yesterday did not end the way I had hoped, and despite the intense physical pain it caused, I have no regrets,” her post continued. “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.”
She concluded: “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.”
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