Lindsey Vonn’s brutal crash on the Milan downhill course cut short her Olympic dreams. But more than that, it triggered a medical ordeal, requiring her to go through multiple surgeries. Diagnosed with a ‘complex tibia fracture,’ she’s already undergone two procedures, one to stabilize her left leg and another to maintain blood flow. Now comes the update on a third surgery, proving the nightmare is far from over.

On February 11, Lindsey Vonn shared a post on Instagram, detailing, “I had my 3rd surgery today and it was successful. Success today has a completely different meaning than it did a few days ago.”

Vonn further detailed how she is coping with the operation, “I’m making progress and while it is slow, I know I’ll be ok.” 

Vonn’s post clearly revealed the severity of her injury. The images showcased external fixators on her left leg, essentially used to stabilize fractured joints and bones from outside the body.

Since Vonn has suffered a complex tibia fracture, it is normal for her to undergo more than one surgeries since the case demands that. This is because such injuries typically indicates that the bone is shattered or broken in multiple places, as per the Yale Medicine website. Naturally this also means the recovery timeline for it is longer than usual, typically 8 to 11 months.

But despite going through so much just in the past 72 hours, Vonn remains positive in her outlook as she expressed gratitude for having her team by her side.

“Thankful for all of the incredible medical staff, friends, family, who have been by my side and the beautiful outpouring of love and support from people around the world. Also, huge congrats to my teammates and all of the Team USA athletes who are out there inspiring me and giving me something to cheer for ❤️🤍💙,” she added.

Well, Vonn’s sounded pretty optimistic about her condition lately. In her February 10 post, she had said, “While yesterday did not end the way I had hoped, and despite the intense physical pain it caused, I have no regrets.”

On the contrary, the details of her crash are quite grave. Her crash in Tofane happened with great intensity on Sunday, after her right ski pole clipped in the gate, causing her to lose balance. On top of that, the speed on the downhill course made the fall even worse, causing her to wail in pain right after.

Recently, the medic who treated Lindsey Vonn on the site revealed she had to be treated immediately after the crash, “She was in a lot of pain at the time, so I rushed to begin treatment on site and stabilized her.”

To make things worse, Vonn already had an ACL tear in her left leg, entering the event. Yet the 41-year-old took her chances, but it didn’t work out on the snow. Now, her family, especially her father extremely concerned about her skiing career.

Lindsey Vonn’s father wishes for her to retire

What is now perhaps Lindsey Vonn’s second major series of surgeries in less than two years, after her partial knee replacement in 2024, appears to have shaken her family.

Speaking to the Associated Press after her crash, Vonn’s father, Alan Kildow had said, “She’s 41 years old, and this is the end of her career. There will be no more ski races for Lindsey Vonn, as long as I have anything to say about it.”

At the same time, he had further backed the idea that Vonn’s handling everything well by saying, “She’s a very, very strong person. And so I think she’s handling it real well.”

Now, after multiple surgeries, Vonn’s recovery remains a long road ahead. On top of it, there’s a lot of uncertainty about her return to the sport. Thus, only time will tell whether she will ever return to competitive skiing.