Things have taken a sudden turn for Lindsey Vonn. Once a clear medal-favorite, her dreams now hang by a thread after she tore her ACL in her left knee just days before the Winter Olympics. Yet, “I am not letting this slip through my fingers,” stands her decision. However, experts aren’t sure if she’ll make it through safely.

Dr. David Chao, an orthopedic surgeon with nearly 25 years of experience and a former team physician of the San Diego Chargers, explained why this is a tremendous challenge. Olympic skiing involves “very high forces, high speeds, and extreme conditions,” he said. Indeed, Vonn has reached around 130 km/h (81 mph) this season.

“I fear it may not end as well for Lindsey Vonn,” Chao opined. He even compared her to former quarterback Philip Rivers, who played six days after a torn ACL during a playoff game. But Rivers was an “an immobile quarterback.”

“skiing at Olympic speeds is a completely different challenge…It would be amazing if Lindsey could compete and even more amazing if she could succeed. My biggest hope is that she doesn’t fall and suffer a more serious injury,” added Chao.

Dr. Yana Klein, an emergency and sports medicine specialist at the University of Colorado, warned, “She might blow out her knee entirely. At these racing speeds, the knee may simply not be stable enough to compete safely.”

If Vonn competes at the Olympics, her first race will come just nine days after her crash, which is on February 8, 2026, in the women’s downhill. And she’ll do that with a completely ruptured ACL and a bone bruise, as well as a meniscus tear, which complicates her knee situation.

Still, Lindsey Vonn’s doctors have cleared her to continue after physical therapy. “My knee is not swollen, and with the help of a knee brace, I am confident that I can compete on Sunday,” Vonn said.

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Dr. Catherine Logan, an orthopedic surgeon at the Joint Preservation Center in Denver who works with U.S. Ski and Snowboard, offered a more optimistic view:

“It’s possible if you’re an elite Alpine skier like Lindsey is to perform at that Olympic level… The movement patterns are relatively predictable so there’s less demand on the ACL when decelerating or changing directions. There’s still an increased risk for secondary injury to the meniscus or cartilage… She still has a great chance to perform well…”

Dr. Samuel Ward, a professor of orthopedic surgery and co-director of the Wu Tsai Human Performance Alliance at UC San Diego, added, “This is going to be difficult, but she’s as tenacious as they come. There’s a bit of mind over matter here, too… The average human being would be like, ‘I hurt my knee and I’m afraid of it…”

While most doctors see risk written all over Lindsey Vonn’s comeback, there is still one powerful voice offering a different perspective. That hope comes from someone who has faced the same situation.

Lindsey Vonn gets a boost of hope from fellow Olympic champion

Pierre Vaultier, a two-time snowboardcross Olympic champion, is familiar with pursuing Olympic dreams without an intact ACL. He tore his cruciate ligament just two months before the 2014 Sochi Olympics and still managed to win the gold medal.

When asked about Lindsey Vonn’s decision to race, he said it was surprising, but also understandable. Vaultier explained that skiing is tougher on the ACL than snowboarding because of the pivots and backward positions that place heavy stress on the knee. Still, he understood her reasoning.

Vaultier also pointed out that pain, not just instability, could be the real deciding factor for Vonn. If she can manage the pain and trust her strength, racing becomes possible. He admitted it is risky, even experimental, but said elite athletes often fear regret more than injury.

“It’s obvious that having regrets afterward would perhaps be worse than going and getting injured again. It’s definitely a situation I understand, since I was in pretty much the same boat,” he said.

Vaultier later needed a knee replacement on the same leg, though he says it was not because he raced with a torn ACL. Even now, he says he would make the same decision again.

Such a mindset explains why Lindsey Vonn is not giving up at 41 because this is possibly her final opportunity. The doubts are real. The risks are heavy. And until she skis down that downhill flight, no one can know quite how this story finishes.