Lindsey Vonn discharged from hospital after four surgeries from crash | Other | Sport

Lindsey Vonn has pledged to return to “the top of the mountain once more” following the devastating crash that brought her Winter Olympics campaign to an abrupt end. The 41-year-old Team USA athlete had been aiming to become the oldest Alpine skiing medallist in the Games’ history, only for disaster to strike during the women’s downhill final just days after she ruptured her ACL in her left knee.

The crash resulted in Vonn taking a brutal fall and she was airlifted to hospital. It has subsequently been confirmed that the American skier fractured her leg, with Vonn requiring four operations at the Ca’ Foncello Hospital in Treviso. She has now been released from hospital ahead of her journey back to America, according to Reuters.

Ensure our latest sport headlines always appear at the top of your Google Search by making us a Preferred Source. Click here to activate or add us as a Preferred Source in your Google search settings.

“Surgery went well today! Thankfully I will be able to finally go back to the US! Once I’m back I will give you more updates and info about my injury…. But until then, as I sit here in my bed reflecting, I have a few thoughts I’d like to share,” wrote Vonn on Instagram.

She added: “When I think back on my crash, I didn’t stand in the starting gate unaware of the potential consequences.

“I knew what I was doing. I chose to take a risk. Every skier in that starting gate took the same risk. Because even if you are the strongest person in the world, the mountain always holds the cards.”

In concluding her message, she delivered a heartfelt statement to her supporters, expressing that the experience and journey to the Olympics justified the accident.

“The ride was worth the fall,” she continued. “When I close my eyes at night I don’t have regrets and the love I have for skiing remains. I am still looking forward to the moment when I can stand on the top of the mountain once more. And I will.”

Following her fractured tibia, Vonn faces an estimated eight to 11 months on the sidelines before potentially returning to competitive action.

Whilst her statement suggests retirement isn’t imminent, it remains unclear whether she’s referring to standing atop the mountain as a competing skier or purely for personal satisfaction. Her father, Alan Kildow, has said, however, that in the wake of the crash, Vonn has reached “the end of her career.”

In comments to The Associated Press, he declared: “She’s 41 years old and this is the end of her career. There will be no more ski races for Lindsey Vonn, as long as I have anything to say about it.”