‘I may be crazy enough to try one more time’: Lindsey Vonn isn’t ruling out a comeback after eight surgeries and two months in a wheelchair

Olympic gold medalist Lindsey Vonn says there is still a “small chance” at making a return to alpine skiing—even after tearing her ACL and breaking her leg earlier this year.

According to the Olympics website, Vonn is named on the 2026-27 U.S. alpine skiing team, pending her recovery following her injury in February during the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics, where she crashed in the women’s downhill and had to be airlifted out.

The injury broke her leg, required eight surgeries and left her in a wheelchair for nearly two months.

If she returns, it would be after more than a dozen career injuries, on a body she admits is “a little bit older.” “I fell and I immediately knew that my leg was broken as an extreme amount of pain.

And I would say this injury, like this crash, has been the hardest of my life,” she said.

Vonn, a four-time World Cup title American alpine ski race winner and the first American woman to win the Olympic gold medal for downhill skiing, spoke at a panel for Zeta Live 2026, hosted by Zeta Global where she recounted her experience recovering from her crash—and what that means for her in the future. (function(){function e(){window.addEventListener(`message`,function(e){if(e.data[`datawrapper-height`]!==void 0){var t=document.querySelectorAll(`iframe`);for(var n in e.data[`datawrapper-height`])for(var r=0,i;i=t[r];r++)if(i.contentWindow===e.source){var a=e.data[`datawrapper-height`][n]+`px`;i.style.height=a}}})}e()})(); “This Olympic run was a special and unique situation,” Vonn said, “So from a sporting perspective, I mean, there is still a small chance that I may be crazy enough to try one more time.” Coming back from an injury is nothing new for Vonn.

After all, she’s dealt with injuries before: Since 2007, Vonn has suffered 14 different injuries—from MCL sprains, fractured bones, torn ACLs and more.

The difference now, however, is that she’s 41—making her the oldest member of the U.S. alpine skiing team by a wide margin. (function(){function e(){window.addEventListener(`message`,function(e){if(e.data[`datawrapper-height`]!==void 0){var t=document.querySelectorAll(`iframe`);for(var n in e.data[`datawrapper-height`])for(var r=0,i;i=t[r];r++)if(i.contentWindow===e.source){var a=e.data[`datawrapper-height`][n]+`px`;i.style.height=a}}})}e()})(); “For me, it was like hanging on to what could have been,” she said.

“That was something that, with both injuries, I don’t deal with—because normally, I have plenty of time.

I do my rehab.

I come back and I win again, and I’m always fine.

But this time, you know, I’m a little bit older.” “But this injury, it took me, I would say, four months to get to the other side,” she continued.

“Normally, I have surgery, it’s shaped for a couple days, and then I’m like, okay, I’m making progress.