Lindsey Vonn faces what her surgeon has described as a “complicated, delicate and ongoing” medical battle after a devastating crash in the Olympic downhill left the American icon with a complex tibia fracture and an uncertain sporting future.
The 41-year-old, competing at the Milan-Cortina Winter Games, was heard screaming on the course after losing control in the final.
Travelling at speed, she crested a hill, clipped a plastic gate marker and was violently pitched to the snow.
A hush fell over Cortina as medical teams rushed to her side before she was airlifted from the mountain.
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Vonn has since undergone three operations at Ca’ Foncello Hospital in Treviso under the care of surgeon Stefano Zanarella, with at least two further procedures scheduled.
The scale of the injury has prompted stark warnings from leading orthopaedic specialists that, in extreme cases, such trauma can result in amputation.
“We are proud to have handled a delicate situation,” Zanarella told Corriere del Veneto, outlining the intensity of a department that performs up to six major trauma surgeries each day.
Lindsey Vonn faces what her surgeon has described as a “complicated, delicate and ongoing” medical battle after a devastating crash in the Olympic downhill left the American icon with a complex tibia fracture and an uncertain sporting future
|GETTY
“We approached this complicated case with a team of experts, coordinating every step of the recovery process.”
He stressed that Vonn was treated no differently to any other patient, despite her global stature.
The fracture — described as comminuted, involving multiple bone fragments — required the application of an external fixator, a stabilising frame inserted through the skin to hold shattered bone in place.
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Lindsey Vonn is currently recovering in hospital following her crash at the Winter Olympics
|REUTERS
According to Dr Bertrand Sonnery-Cottet, a knee specialist based in Lyon, such injuries are more commonly associated with high-speed road traffic collisions.
“The timeline is unpredictable,” he told RMC Sport.
“Her immediate goal is to keep her leg and be able to walk. We are not at the stage of discussing a return to elite skiing.”
Another French surgeon, Nicolas Baudrier, told L’Equipe that the presence of an external fixator indicates the severity of the fracture and the possibility of associated soft-tissue damage.
Even in younger patients, full recovery from such trauma can take a year; for an athlete in her 40S, the challenge is more formidable still.
From her hospital bed, Vonn struck a resolute tone.
Lindsey Vonn crashed while competing at the Winter Olympics with a serious ACL injury | REUTERSShe confirmed that further imaging would determine the exact nature of her next procedures but admitted the path ahead remains unclear.
Surrounded by family and buoyed by messages of support, she thanked hospital staff and Team USA for lifting her spirits.
Her account of the crash was characteristically candid.
In downhill skiing, she noted, the margin between perfection and catastrophe can be measured in inches.
Five inches too tight on her line, she explained, and her right arm hooked inside a gate, twisting her body and triggering the fall.
A pre-Games ACL tear, she insisted, played no part. Whether Vonn, the 2010 Vancouver Olympic downhill champion and owner of 45 World Cup downhill victories, will ever race again at the highest level is now doubtful.