After spending the entire 2025-26 season atop the leaderboard, Olympic skier Lindsey Vonn is officially acknowledging her last day at No. 1 amid her devastating leg injury.
“Well… I’ve had the red leader bib from the first race of the season until now, but in all likelihood tomorrow will be my last day as #1,” Vonn posted via Instagram on Friday, March 6. “At the beginning of the season no one would have ever believed I would be even close to this position. And I bet people would have laughed if it was even suggested. But winning the title was my goal… and I came painfully close to achieving it.”
Vonn, 41, suffered a shocking leg injury at the 2026 Winter Olympics after crashing just 13 seconds into her run. She was airlifted off the course after the accident on February 8, ending her skiing season after a remarkable comeback.
Despite the setbacks — including tearing her ACL just a few weeks before the Olympics — Vonn earned her spot at the top of the women’s downhill skiing leaderboard.
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“I’m not one to talk about things I’ve achieved but in this instance I feel I need to, maybe more to remind myself than anything else,” she wrote. “I was on the podium of every single downhill race, including 2 wins. I clawed my way back to #1 in the world after being retired for 6 years with a partial knee replacement and that alone was an incredible achievement I won’t ever forget. Even though in a few days no one will remember that I almost won the season title, I will remember. I didn’t want to win the title to prove anything to anyone. I did it because I knew I could. I just wish I had a chance to fight until the end to try and get it…”
Vonn went on to reminisce and “reflect” on her season, admitting that she is “crying over a crystal trophy” because skiing “has always been the thing I love to do most in this world.”
“It has always brought me incredible joy, especially this season,” she said. “But what I am realizing is that not having one more title doesn’t make this season less extraordinary. It doesn’t take away the joy I had standing in the starting gate or crossing the finish line and seeing #1 next to my name. It doesn’t take away from the incredible time I had with my team and teammates. Singing and dancing with fans and kids in the stadium. Those memories aren’t washed away because of a title.
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She continued. “My tears just mean I care. I always have. That’s why I work so hard. Skiing is my passion. Whether I’ll ever be able to do it again is yet to be seen. But at least I have the memories, with or without a title, I feel privileged to have had this adventure.”
She concluded her post by thanking fans for joining her on the skiing journey that has been this season.
Vonn has been sharing her road to recovery on social media, even revealing that her leg almost had to be amputated due to the injury.
Most recently, she posted a video of her rehab process, showing herself performing exercises on her injured leg.
