“I Learned How To Walk Again”: Years After Her Horrifying Injury, Lindsey Vonn Opens Up on the Hardest Time of Her Life

Published 05/14/2023, 9:30 AM EDT

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Very few have achieved glory in alpine skiing as Lindsey Vonn did. Besides her Olympic gold medal and 2 World Championships gold medals, Vonn came first 82 times, including various disciplines of skiing, at the World Cup races. But even fewer have shown the grit and determination like her to live what she lived through and still land on her feet. Lindsey Vonn’s career-threatening injury in 2013, when almost the entire world wrote her off, but she still went on to win races later on, is just one such example.

Lindsey Vonn talked about her unbreakable moment to mental health podcaster Jay Glazer. She mentioned how in 2013 she suffered a horrific injury but still came out of it with grit to want to achieve more.

The moment that nearly wrote off Lindsey Vonn’s career

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Jay Glazer recently took to his Instagram and posted a snippet from his interview with Lindsey Vonn on his Unbreakable podcast. He wrote alongside it, “If anyone is UNBREAKABLE it’s the iconic @lindseyvonn. Listen to what should have broken her but didn’t and her reaction when she came through stronger on the other side…” In the clip attached, Vonn narrated the incident from when she faced her unbreakable moment.

via Imago

Lindsey Vonn said, “There has been many unbreakable moments. I think I blew out my knee in 2013 and then 10 months later I did it again. Basically, the entire world wrote me off and it almost broke me”. She suffered the crash in Andorra, in the Pyrenees. While performing a super-G routine she got stuck in some snow, then hyperextended her knee, and then it was locked up. Vonn recalled that time period as being the hardest time of her life. But she persevered and came out of it stronger.

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Vonn continued, “But I crawled my way out. I learned how to walk again… Running was out of the question. But I won my 2nd race back and that was basically two years of being out of competition and that was probably one of my proudest moments”. Her achievements post-2013 have been nothing short of spectacular, and they speak volumes about her courage and zeal.

Her achievements since the career-threatening injury

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Lindsey Vonn won her only Olympic gold in 2010 at Vancouver, in the downhill event. She also won bronze in that Winter Olympics in the super-G competition. However, 8 years down the line and 5 years post her knee-blow out, Vonn won her 3rd Olympic medal, a bronze one, in the downhill event again in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Her world championship wins in super-G at 2015 Beaver Creek, downhill at 2017 St. Moritz, and in 2019 Are are also a testament to her willpower to chase success post-injury.

 

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A post shared by Jay Glazer (@jayglazer)

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Vonn has since retired from alpine skiing, after nearly two decades in the sport. She occasionally graces other sporting events, as she was recently seen at the Miami Grand Prix, where she also witnessed the infamous incident with Sir Jackie and a security guard. She also once revealed to Graham Bensinger about almost becoming an F1 driver once. But nonetheless, her career is nothing short of inspiring.

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Written by:

Tanmay Roy

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Tanmay Roy is a sports writer at EssentiallySports specializing in his coverage of the Olympics and other major American sporting events. His passion for sports was ignited by the early achievements of Michael Phelps, Pete Sampras, and John McEnroe. As a writer for EssentiallySports, Tanmay's articles have been recognized as Editor's Picks, showcasing his ability to craft engaging and thought-provoking stories.
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Edited by:

Brandon Gabriel