Lindsey Vonn broke her silence after she crashed during the women’s downhill final at the 2026 Winter Olympics
The five-time Olympian said her ACL tear from the week before had “nothing” to do with her fall
Vonn was airlifted from the mountain to a hospital, where she underwent surgery to “stabilize” her leg

Lindsey Vonn says she has “no regrets” in her first statement since her terrifying crash at the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Vonn, 41, broke her silence in an Instagram post on Monday, Feb. 9, just hours after crashing during the women’s downhill skiing final at the Milan Cortina Games and getting airlifted to the hospital for surgery.

“Yesterday my Olympic dream did not finish the way I dreamt it would,” she began her post. “It wasn’t a story book ending or a fairy tail, it was just life. I dared to dream and had worked so hard to achieve it. Because in Downhill ski racing the difference between a strategic line and a catastrophic injury can be as small as 5 inches.”

Vonn explained that those 5 inches in which she caught her ski pole on a course marker caused her to twist “and resulted in my crash.”

“My ACL and past injuries had nothing to do with my crash whatsoever,” she added.

Vonn said she “sustained a complex tibia fracture” that is now okay, “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,” she continued. “Standing in the starting gate yesterday 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. I also knew that racing was a risk. It always was and always will be an incredibly dangerous sport.”

Lindsey Vonn of Team United States crashes during the Women's Downhill on day two of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics at Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre

Lindsey Vonn moments before her crash at the 2026 Winter Olympics.IOC via Getty

“I tried. I dreamt. I jumped,” the five-time Olympian said.

“I hope if you take away anything from my journey it’s that you all have the courage to dare greatly,” she continued. “Life is too short not to take chances on yourself. Because the only failure in life is not trying. I believe in you, just as you believed in me.”

Vonn’s crash started when she caught her ski pole on a course marker and tumbled through the air multiple times before falling to the snow. She was put on a stretcher and airlifted to Ca Foncello hospital in Trevizo, Italy, where she underwent surgery to “stabilize” a fracture in her left leg, the hospital said in a statement, according to Reuters.