Last summer, Lindsey Vonn was wake surfing with Dolphins, ticking off a huge item off her “bucket list.” But things look very different now. A winter Olympics crash and five surgeries later, the legendary skier is now in the thick of recovering from a complex tibia fracture, compartment syndrome, and a completely torn ACL in her leg. But will that and the brace on her knee restrict Vonn this summer? Well, Vonn doesn’t plan on being held back.

Two months after her Winter Olympics crash and injury, which Vonn described as “by far the most extreme, painful and challenging I’ve faced in my life, times 100,” she is now ready for a full recovery.

Speaking about her recovery, Vonn said, “It’s definitely been a tough two months, but I feel like I’ve kind of hit some nice milestones recently, and am getting closer to being back to the real world and getting my life back.”

A few months back, Vonn had external fixators on her left leg. One of her post-crash surgeries also left her with “a lot of plates and screws” in her leg. Yet, she has been defying limitations by getting back to exercise and stepping outdoors. However, her 2026 summer plans are a little more extreme than that.

“I’m the kind of person who plans for success, so I am planning on a full recovery,” Vonn told People. “I’m also planning on doing fun things this summer. I’m going on vacation. I’d better be going on vacation! The plane ticket is booked, anyway.

“I need a good summer, and to disconnect from everything that happened. Plus, in the next six weeks I’ll be able to live much more normally, and go places and do things.”

“I’m going to be doing some scuba diving. And my friend wants to teach me kite surfing. I’m an adventure junkie! It’s not like skiing is the only thing I do,” Vonn admitted.

This may come as a surprise to some. Usually, a tibia fracture can take anything between six and nine months to heal, but the nature and intensity of the injury also come into play. Orthopaedic trauma surgeon Ash Vasireddy told The Athletic that “most people are beginning to walk and coming off their use of walking aids” in three months.

But while the worst has passed, Lindsey Vonn still had to spend countless hours in the hospital, undergoing five surgeries in total, with a sixth soon to come.

So far, Vonn’s recovery has been pretty steady, as per the 41-year-old’s constant social media updates. In one of her March recovery clips, she was seen doing rehab exercises like leg extensions, Russian twists, crunches and more. 

Now, given the severity of her injuries, her age, and other factors, not many are expecting Lindsey Vonn to be back on the slopes any time soon. But the 41-year-old has not fully closed that door.

Lindsey Vonn opens up on competing at the 2030 Olympics

While her crash turned out to be the biggest headline, it’s hardly debatable that Lindsey Vonn was on the precipice of one of the greatest comebacks at the Olympics. The 41-year-old retired in 2019 after knee issues, returned in 2025, and qualified for the Olympics. Not only that, but Vonn also made history by podiuming in all five World Cup downhill races before the Olympics.

And given her injuries, few would blame her for not returning to the slopes competitively ever again. But that’s not the way Lindsey Vonn wants her career to end, as the American hasn’t closed the door on the 2030 Olympics.

“If I were to do it, I would only do it if I could be fast,” Vonn told CNBC. “But, I don’t know, that’s a long way off. I would be 45 (during) the next Olympics. That might be a little bit too much, but we’ll see.”

A lot is resting on her final words, but it does hint at a potential return. After all, for Vonn, her comeback is not complete because she never got closure. Vonn’s Olympic hopes suddenly ended when she crashed 13 seconds into her skiing attempt and had to be airlifted. That was not quite the return Lindsey Vonn envisioned, and that’s exactly why she’s open to one more run out.

Vonn had regrettably spoken about not getting that final closure, “And I never got to, I never got a final run, I never got to say goodbye, I never got, like, any sort of closure whatsoever, that I think it leaves the door slightly open to, I don’t know, maybe I would do one more race to say goodbye, or maybe I w- maybe I’ll race again.” 

For now, it’s clear that Lindsey Vonn’s focus is on recovery, but it’s also true that she is keeping the door slightly open for one final skiing return.