Lindsey Vonn returns home to US following horror crash as skiing legend opens up on ‘severe’ injury

19 Feb 2026 • 12:04 AM MYT
The Independent
The Independent

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Lindsey Vonn has returned home to the United States following her horror crash at the Winter Olympics.

On 8 February, the 41-year-old American athlete suffered a leg fracture after crashing hard in the downhill event. She decided to compete despite having ruptured her left anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in a crash in a World Cup race in Crans-Montana, Switzerland last month.

In a montage posted on Instagram on Tuesday (17 February), the skiing legend can be seen being lifted out of the hospital in Italy by a large team of medics, who transferred her onto plane back to the US.

“My injury was a lot more severe than just a broken leg. I’m still wrapping my head around it, what it means and the road ahead,” she wrote.