The Olympics are just about here.
How can Lindsey Vonn ski with torn ACL? USA skiing legend reveals her plan originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Lindsey Vonn is up for the challenge.
The 41-year old United States skiing legend was already in an unprecedented place heading into the Winter Olympics because of her age and comeback from retirement. Now, she's added a torn left ACL to the mix.
Vonn sustained a "completely ruptured" ACL, bone bruising and damage to her meniscus, according to the Associated Press, in a crash less than two weeks before the Olympics were set to get underway in Italy.
She got back to skiing on Tuesday, and spoke with reporters afterward.
Vonn is going to give it a go at the Olympics despite a completely torn ACL in her left knee.
How can Lindsey Vonn ski with a torn ACL?
Vonn has confidence, and this is almost certainly her last Olympics, and she's going to try.
“My knee is not swollen, and with the help of a knee brace, I am confident that I can compete on Sunday,” Vonn said, via the AP. “And as long as there’s a chance, I will try . . . I will do everything in my power to be in the starting gate.”
Vonn is planning to compete in the women's downhill, which takes place Sunday, as well as the super-G and a new event, the team combined competition.
"My intention is to race everything," Vonn said.
Vonn missed the 2014 Olympics after tearing the ligaments in her right knee.
She recalled her bronze medal at the 2019 World Championships that came with a less-than-healthy knee.
“I’ve been in this position before. I know how to handle it,” Vonn said. “I feel a lot better now than I did in 2019 . . . And I still got a medal there with no LCL and three tibial plateau fractures. So, like I said, this is not an unknown for me. I’ve done this before.”
Vonn also knows, though, that what she is doing here would be even greater.
“This would be the best comeback I’ve done so far,” Vonn said. “Definitely the most dramatic.”
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Category: General Sports
