Despite a ‘ruptured’ knee ligament, Lindsey Vonn says she will compete in the Olympics

Want more Olympics updates? Get our behind-the-scenes newsletter for what it’s like to be at these Games.

MILAN — Days after a crash in a race “completely ruptured” the anterior cruciate ligament of her left knee, the American skier Lindsey Vonn said Tuesday that she still plans to compete in the upcoming Winter Olympics.

Vonn’s comeback from retirement at 41 years old has been one of the most remarkable stories of the run-up to this year’s Olympic Games in Italy, where she hoped to contend for a medal.

The crash in Switzerland last Friday had thrown those hopes into jeopardy. On Tuesday, after skiing to test her knee, she told reporters that she felt “confident” that she can participate in the downhill event this coming Sunday, Feb. 8, wearing a knee brace.

But, she said, with disappointment in her voice, that her hopes are no longer as high as they were before the crash.

“This is obviously not what I had hoped for. I’ve been working really hard to come into these Games in a much different position,” she said. “I know what my chances were before the crash, and I know my chances aren’t the same as it stands today. But I know there’s still a chance. And as long as there’s still a chance, I will try.”

Vonn’s crash came in last Friday during a downhill race in Crans-Montana, Switzerland — the last race on the downhill World Cup circuit before the Winter Olympics. Difficult conditions had already caused two other racers to crash. Then, during Vonn’s run, she lost control coming off a jump, crashed to the ground and skidded into the nets.

The crash injured her left knee. Afterward, she gingerly skied down the slope, then was airlifted off the mountain for further medical evaluation. The race was called off afterward.

Vonn had retired in 2019 after repeated injuries to her knees had made it impossible, she believed then, to continue competing. But a partial knee replacement to her right knee — which was uninjured in last week’s crash — in 2024 allowed her to begin to train seriously again.

This ski season, Vonn’s performance has left no room for doubt. She won her first World Cup race of the season in December, then another in January. She has finished on the podium in five other races. She currently leads the FIS downhill standings.

To return to the top levels of professional skiing — and to contend for an Olympic medal — requires taking risks on the slope, Vonn acknowledged on Tuesday.

“Because I push the limits, I crash. And I have been injured more times than I would like to admit to myself, but those are the cards that I’ve been dealt in my life,” she said. “Nothing is perfect in life, and that’s just where I seem to always be.”

That the Olympic women’s alpine events will be held in Cortina — the beloved stop on the World Cup circuit where Vonn notched her first-ever podium finish, followed by a dozen World Cup wins over the course of her career — was a key part of Vonn’s motivation to stage her comeback, bordering on “fate,” she has said.

“I don’t think I would have tried this comeback if the Olympics weren’t in Cortina. If it had been anywhere else, I would probably say it’s not worth it,” she said in October. “But for me there’s something special about Cortina that always pulls me back and it’s pulled me back one last time.”

The Olympic downhill race will take place on Sunday, Feb. 8, followed by the team events on Feb. 10 and the super-G on Feb. 12. Her participation in the latter events, she said Tuesday, will depend on her performance in the downhill race.