Skier Lindsey Vonn says she is going to compete within the Olympics : NPR

[ad_1] <img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/6000x4000+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F35%2F83%2Fce5b8d164775a1035bed25014626%2Fgettyimages-2256129431.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/6000x4000+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F35%2F83%2Fce5b8d164775a1035bed25014626%2Fgettyimages-2256129431.jpg" class="img" alt="Nearly seven years after she retired in 2019, Lindsey Vonn has reached the podium in seven World Cup races this winter in a remarkable comeback story." fetchpriority="high"/> Practically seven years after she retired in 2019, Lindsey Vonn has reached the rostrum in seven World Cup races this winter in a outstanding comeback story. Hans Bezard/Getty Photographs cover caption

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MILAN — Days after a crash in a race "fully ruptured" the anterior cruciate ligament of her left knee, the American skier Lindsey Vonn stated Tuesday that she nonetheless plans to compete within the upcoming Winter Olympics.

Vonn's comeback from retirement at 41 years outdated has been one of the outstanding tales of the run-up to this 12 months's Olympic Video games in Italy, the place she hoped to contend for a medal.

The crash in Switzerland final Friday had thrown these hopes into jeopardy. On Tuesday, after snowboarding to check her knee, she informed reporters that she felt "assured" that she will be able to take part within the downhill occasion this coming Sunday, Feb. 8, sporting a knee brace.

However, she stated, with disappointment in her voice, that her hopes are now not as excessive as they had been earlier than the crash.

"That is clearly not what I had hoped for. I have been working actually laborious to come back into these Video games in a a lot totally different place," she stated. "I do know what my probabilities had been earlier than the crash, and I do know my probabilities aren't the identical because it stands right now. However I do know there's nonetheless an opportunity. And so long as there's nonetheless an opportunity, I'll attempt."

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/7365x4910+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F99%2F46%2Fa21e40f144e5a1bcb43ae6d7ad09%2Fap26034545785571.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/7365x4910+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F99%2F46%2Fa21e40f144e5a1bcb43ae6d7ad09%2Fap26034545785571.jpg" class="img" alt="United States' Lindsey Vonn attends a press conference by the U.S. ski team at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)" loading="lazy"/> United States' Lindsey Vonn attends a press convention by the U.S. ski staff on the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026. (AP Picture/Fatima Shbair) Fatima Shbair/AP cover caption

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Fatima Shbair/AP Vonn's crash got here in final Friday throughout a downhill race in Crans-Montana, Switzerland — the final race on the downhill World Cup circuit earlier than the Winter Olympics. Tough circumstances had already prompted two different racers to crash. Then, throughout Vonn's run, she misplaced management coming off a leap, crashed to the bottom and skidded into the nets.

The crash injured her left knee. Afterward, she gingerly skied down the slope, then was airlifted off the mountain for additional medical analysis. The race was known as off afterward.

Vonn had retired in 2019 after repeated accidents to her knees had made it unattainable, she believed then, to proceed competing. However a partial knee substitute to her proper knee — which was unhurt in final week's crash — in 2024 allowed her to start to coach critically once more.

This ski season, Vonn's efficiency has left no room for doubt. She gained her first World Cup race of the season in December, then one other in January. She has completed on the rostrum in 5 different races. She at the moment leads the FIS downhill standings.

To return to the highest ranges {of professional} snowboarding — and to contend for an Olympic medal — requires taking dangers on the slope, Vonn acknowledged on Tuesday.

"As a result of I push the boundaries, I crash. And I've been injured extra instances than I wish to admit to myself, however these are the playing cards that I have been dealt in my life," she stated. "Nothing is ideal in life, and that is simply the place I appear to all the time be."

That the Olympic girls's alpine occasions will likely be held in Cortina — the beloved cease on the World Cup circuit the place Vonn notched her first-ever podium end, adopted by a dozen World Cup wins over the course of her profession — was a key a part of Vonn's motivation to stage her comeback, bordering on "destiny," she has stated.

"I do not suppose I'd have tried this comeback if the Olympics weren't in Cortina. If it had been anyplace else, I'd most likely say it is not value it," she stated in October. "However for me there's one thing particular about Cortina that all the time pulls me again and it is pulled me again one final time."

The Olympic downhill race will happen on Sunday, Feb. 8, adopted by the staff occasions on Feb. 10 and the super-G on Feb. 12. Her participation within the latter occasions, she stated Tuesday, will rely upon her efficiency within the downhill race.