‘A catastrophic injury can be as small as 5 inches’: Lindsey Vonn gives update after crash

Lindsey Vonn
Lindsey Vonn crash 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 on February 08, 2026, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. (Screengrab by IOC via Getty Images) (Handout/Getty Images)

Olympic skier Lindsey Vonn has provided an update on her gruesome crash that ended her Olympic comeback dreams.

She posted to Instagram, “a catastrophic injury can be as small as 5 inches.”

“I was simply 5 inches too tight on my line when my right arm hooked inside of the gate, twisting me and resulted in my crash. My ACL and past injuries had nothing to do with my crash whatsoever,” she wrote.

She caught her arm on a gate 13 seconds into her run on Sunday, CNN reported.

Vonn explained that the crash caused a complex tibia fracture that is stable but will need several more surgeries to repair the damage.

Vonn, 41, said she did not regret competing in another Olympics after her retirement in 2019.

The crash came nine days after she had ruptured her ACL in her left knee, but was stable in her two downhill training runs, The Associated Press reported. She said she had checked with her doctors and trainers before deciding to remain as an Olympic competitor at the Milan Cortina Games.

Vonn’s father told the AP that he hopes this is the end of her competitive skiing.

“She’s 41 years old and this is the end of her career,” Alan Kidow said. “There will be no more ski races for Lindsey Vonn, as long as I have anything to say about it.”

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