Speaking about her plans for this summer, Lindsey Vonn had sounded optimistic, almost a bit too much. “I’m going on vacation…The plane ticket is booked, anyway,” she said, with scuba diving and kite surfing on her bucket list. It sounded like nothing’s slowing her down anymore, not even the complex tibia fracture and compartment syndrome she’s recovering from after the Winter Olympics crash. But the reality might be painting a different picture.

Olympic legend Lindsey Vonn was spotted at the Los Angeles airport this weekend in her first public appearance since the accident. She was seen being assisted around in a wheelchair by the staff, as reported by the New York Post.

Vonn even had crutches in her hand as she sat in the wheelchair. This shows that while Vonn has recovered enough to travel, she still finds herself relying on support, hinting that the Olympian is still far from complete recovery.

Usually, a complex tibia fracture takes anything between six and nine months to recover from, as per experts. However, a few days back, Vonn was certain that, “in the next six weeks I’ll be able to live much more normally, and go places and do things.”

While Vonn is looking forward to a speedy recovery, she’s not hiding the challenges she faced during the same. “It’s definitely been up and down,” Vonn said. “I’d say in the last month, it’s definitely gotten better, but of course there were really low moments.”

However, there is still significant improvement. Vonn’s last public appearance was at the Milan Cortina slopes, where she crashed just 13 seconds after leaving the gate. Post that, the injury she suffered turned worse, and at one point, they nearly would have had to amputate her leg if it was not for the Team USA doctor, Tom Hackett.

After surgeries in Milan, the 41-year-old was transported back to America. But the experience in Treviso nearly broke her, “It took everything I had for it to not drive me insane.”

Amid five surgeries and a sixth one in line now, the mental toll on Lindsey Vonn has been immense, which comes as no surprise. She had confessed that simply being alone in the hospital for two and a half weeks and completely immobile while she had external fixators on her leg for an extended time period was rough.

Overall, she has had a tough journey, but it looks like it’s not even close to over yet. Her recovery has been going at an unbelievable speed as the 41-year-old continues to post updates across social media.

Lindsey Vonn’s recovery and thoughts on potential return

Within two weeks of being back home, Lindsey Vonn was already cycling on an exercise bike. Four days after that, the 41-year-old showed off videos of her training in the gym. She was even seen riding her scooter “Speedy” outdoors. Clearly, her rehab journey has been going well.

Since then, the updates have steadily shown her recovery, from pull-ups to training to walking with crutches and more. But Vonn doesn’t want it to end there. Because while her recovery continues, the Olympic icon is just as focused on her legacy and her potential comeback.

“And I never got to, I never got a final run, I never got to say goodbye,” Vonn spoke about her Milan run.

After all, her final Olympics run ended on a rather sour note, which hurt Vonn more than anything else. That is why she’s keeping the door slightly open for her comeback.

“I think it leaves a door slightly open to, I don’t know, maybe I would do one more race to say goodbye or maybe I’ll race again,” she said. “It might be fun to do one more run. We’ll see.”

And that’s not the last time she’s said that either, as Vonn recently touched upon potentially participating in 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 of ifs and maybes rest on her final words, but it all does point to a return. However, for now, Lindsey Vonn’s focus lies on recuperating and recovering, mentally and physically. So only time will tell whether the American alpine icon ever does return to the slopes.