US skier Lindsey Vonn says she has “no regrets” despite confirming she needs “multiple surgeries” after suffering a leg fracture in a crash at the Winter Olympics.
The 41-year-old was competing in the women’s downhill skiing final on Sunday in Cortina, northern Italy, when she crashed on the piste after clipping a slalom gate while midair.
The crash, occurring just 13 seconds into the run, resulted in Vonn, who was airlifted to hospital, sustaining a “complex tibia fracture” and undergoing initial surgery.
She had already ruptured her ACL in a crash at a World Cup race in Switzerland on 30 January but was determined to compete at her fifth and final Games.
In an Instagram post on Monday, Vonn said: “Yesterday my Olympic dream did not finish the way I dreamt it would.
“It wasn’t a story book ending or a fairy tale, it was just life.
“Unfortunately, I sustained a complex tibia fracture that is currently stable but will require multiple surgeries to fix properly.
“While yesterday did not end the way I had hoped, and despite the intense physical pain it caused, I have no regrets.”
Despite coming into the Winter Olympics with injury, Vonn was still considered a medal hopeful and completed two impressive training runs earlier in the week.
The 2010 downhill champion had returned to elite ski racing last season after nearly six years in retirement, having had a partial knee replacement on her right leg.
She said her past injuries “had nothing to do with my crash whatsoever”.
Taking risks ‘the beauty of life’
In her social media message, Vonn acknowledged the dangers of ski racing but insisted having the chance to compete “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,” she said. “I also knew that racing was a risk. It always was and always will be an incredibly dangerous sport.
“And similar to ski racing, we take risks in life.
“We dream. We love. We jump. And sometimes we fall. Sometimes our hearts are broken. Sometimes we don’t achieve the dreams we know we could have. But that is also the beauty of life; we can try.
“I tried. I dreamt. I jumped.”
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International Olympic Committee (IOC) sports director Pierre Ducrey said the decision for Vonn to compete was entirely her own.
He said: “She was able to train and make the choice with the excellent team that she has to take part.”
Mr Ducrey said it wasn’t for the IOC to say whether she should have participated, adding: “This decision was really hers and her team’s to take.”
