The skier crashed at the 2026 Winter Olympics while competing with a torn ACL.

Olympian Lindsey Vonn nearly got her leg amputated after terrifying crash: ‘Finally out of the hospital’

The skier crashed at the 2026 Winter Olympics while competing with a torn ACL.

By Shania Russell

Shania Russell

Shania Russell is a news writer at *, *with five years of experience. Her work has previously appeared in SlashFilm and Paste Magazine.

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February 23, 2026 3:57 p.m. ET

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Lindsey Vonn. Credit:

Lindsey Vonn/Instagram (2)

Lindsey Vonn has revealed that she nearly lost her leg after her frightening crash at the 2026 Winter Olympics.

On Monday, the Olympic gold medalist announced that she is finally home from the hospital, two weeks after she clipped a gate and sailed off course during the Feb. 8 women's downhill event. In the new video shared to her Instagram, Vonn took time to thank her medical team, with whom she credited for "saving" her leg, which was nearly amputated in the aftermath.

"After two weeks, I finally made it out of the hospital. It has been quite the journey and by far the most extreme and painful and challenging injury I've ever faced in my entire life," she began the lengthy update. "I'll give you the full rundown. Basically I had a complex tibia fracture... everything was in pieces."

The skier shared that she also suffered compartment syndrome, which occurs when pressure builds up in one enclosed muscle compartment, restricting blood flow and damaging nerves. She then praised Dr. Tom Hackett, an orthopedic surgeon who works for Team USA, for conducting the fasciotomy that salvaged her leg.

Lindsey Vonn being treated in hospital after Olympics crash.

Lindsey Vonn/Instagram

"He saved my leg from being amputated," she said, growing emotional. "He did what's called a fasciotomy, where he cut open both sides of my leg. Kind of filleted it open. Let it breathe and, um, he saved me."

Adding that "everything happens for a reason," Vonn noted that Hackett was only present in Milan because she was competing after tearing the ACL in her left leg nine days before her Olympics event. "If I hadn’t had done that, Tom wouldn’t have been there [and he] wouldn’t have been able to save my leg," she said.

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Besides her torn ACL and leg injury, Vonn said that she also broke her right ankle in the crash. "It has been quite the journey and by far the most extreme and painful and challenging injury I’ve ever faced in my entire life times 100," she shared.

Vonn's injury came just 13 seconds into her first run, after the decorated athlete's right arm clipped a gate in the opening traverse, causing her to go spinning through the air. She was heard screaming as medical personnel surrounded her, and within 15 minutes, Vonn was strapped to a gurney and airlifted to an Italian hospital. Vonn spent several days in the intensive care unit, during which she underwent multiple surgeries. She then flew back home to the United States to receive further treatment.

Vonn, 41, said she remains "very much immobile" and is confined to a wheelchair at the moment. She estimated that it will take about a year for the bones in her left leg to heal, at which point doctors will be able to go in and repair the torn ACL. While she acknowledged that she has a "long road" ahead, Vonn was clear that she has "no regrets" about her comeback, which came after a six-year retirement.

“I wish it had ended differently, but I’d rather go down swinging than not try at all,” said Vonn. "I think what I was able to achieve was more than anyone expected to begin with."

Lindsey Vonn crashing during her first downhill run at the 2026 Winter Olympics.

She added, "Life is life and we have to take the punches that come. Going to do the best I can with this one. It really knocked me down. But I’m like Rocky. I’ll just keep getting back up.”

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While Vonn offered no firm statement about the future of her career in this or any prior updates, her father Alan Kildrow has made it clear that he hopes she will reconsider retirement.

“She’s 41 years old and this is the end of her career," Kildow told the Associated Press after the Olympics crash. "There will be no more ski races for Lindsey Vonn, as long as I have anything to say about it."**

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