What was supposed to be a triumphant comeback for Lindsey Vonn at the Milan Olympics turned into a nightmare in a matter of seconds. The 41-year-old skiing legend saw herself lying motionless on the Olympia delle Tofane course’s snow, wailing in pain, sustaining a tibia fracture that required her to be airlifted by helicopter. Then came multiple surgeries, and there’s another update that she shared with her fans.

From her hospital bed in Treviso, Vonn opened up about the support that she has received in the past days following the crash and also provided a major update on further surgeries that her body will require. “Hey guys, I just wanted to give you a little update and say thank you so much to everyone that has been sending me flowers and letters and sharks, stuffed animals. It’s just been so amazing and really helped me a lot. It’s been quite a hard few days in the hospital here,” she said.

“I’m finally feeling more like myself, but I have a long, long way to go. Tomorrow I’ll have another surgery and hopefully that goes well and then I can potentially leave and go back home, which point I will need another surgery. I still don’t know exactly what that entails yet until I get some better imaging, but it’s kind of where I am right now.”

Not one, but Lindsey Vonn has gone through multiple surgeries in a span of a few days. It just showcases how severe her injury is. At first, she was airlifted to Codivilla Putti Hospital but then was transferred to Ca’ Foncello Hospital for emergency treatment. Doctors then confirmed that the skiing legend sustained a multi-fragmentary tibia fracture.

In simple words, her main shin bone broke into multiple pieces, with concerns surrounding the soft tissues and blood vessels around the area. Vonn’s first surgery focused on stabilizing the bone to prevent further damage, and the next one revolved around her blood flow. Indeed, when she gave the third surgery update, the skier was seen with external fixators. And the support she has received has been massive.

News served to you like never before!

Prefer us on Google, To get latest news on feed

Prefer Us on Google

“I am just in the hospital, very much immobile, but I have a lot of friends and family that have been coming to visit and like I said, the letters and the notes and everything, flowers have just been so incredible and the staff and medical team here has been amazing, so I feel very lucky and fortunate to have so many people around me that have really helped me get through this, so I just want to say thank you and go Team USA,” she said.

“It’s been so great to watch and really lifted my spirit, so good job team and keep crushing it. I’ll check in with you guys when I can.” The recovery time? Many reports suggest that Vonn could potentially take from 8 to 11 months to heal, but it depends on person to person, and sometimes it can be longer than the usual. However, apart from cheering for Team USA, Vonn also congratulated a rival nation’s athlete on this specific occasion in Milan.

Lindsey Vonn couldn’t ignore this stint at the Winter Olympics

Lindsey Vonn saw it all in Milan. She crashed, but Breezy Johnson went on to win the women’s downhill gold. Her reaction? She was absolutely delighted as she watched her fellow Team USA skier bask in the glory. “Tell Breezy congrats and good job,” she said, as it was revealed by Vonn’s coach, Aksel Lund Svindal.

However, the ski legend’s support went beyond the American athletes. At the women’s Super-G, the Tofane Alpine Skiing Center saw not one but 17 DNFs. The same Breezy Johnson was also among those who crashed in the course, as the world watched Italy’s Federica Brignone secure that gleaming gold medal on home snow.

Vonn’s reaction? It was priceless! “Congrats Fede!! What an incredible comeback!!” she wrote on social media. The Italian fought through an injury-disrupted season and still managed to power her way back to the top after crashing at the Italian Championships last April.

Brignone clocked a time of 1:23.41, with only being +0.41 seconds from second-place finisher Romane Miradoli. “I was expecting my skiing to be really confident and try to make every turn clean and be, not perfect, but to let my skis go and be smooth through the terrain. No, never. That’s maybe why I did it, because today I was an underdog. I was an outsider, but I know what I can do with my skis. It’s crazy. I don’t think I’ve realised it,” the Italian skier said following the race.

For Vonn, who tried to achieve Olympic glory with a ‘100%’ torn ACL, her discharge from the hospital now awaits her. Only time will reveal her path to complete recovery.