Lindsey Vonn update: Olympic crash leaves her facing more surgeries and a long recovery

Lindsey Vonn said Friday, Feb. 13, 2026 (ET), that she is preparing for another surgery after a violent crash in the women’s Olympic downhill in Italy left her with a complex fracture of her left tibia. In a hospital-bed video message, the 41-year-old U.S. ski star described “quite a few hard days,” said she is still largely immobile, and warned there is “a long way to go” before she knows what full rehab will look like.

Vonn’s message came as she remains hospitalized in Treviso, with at least one more procedure scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 14 (ET), and another operation expected once she returns to the United States.

What happened in the Olympic downhill

Vonn’s Olympic run ended almost immediately. She crashed roughly 13 seconds into the downhill, prompting an emergency response and transport off the course. The injury was described as a complex tibia fracture in her left leg, an especially complicated break in a sport where stability, rotation, and impact forces are constant.

She has already undergone multiple surgeries in Italy since the crash. The planned Saturday procedure would be her fourth operation since the downhill, with a fifth expected after she gets home.

The latest from Vonn’s hospital update

In her Friday update, Vonn said she is starting to feel more like herself after a difficult stretch of pain and frustration, but emphasized that she cannot yet fully gauge the timeline until additional imaging and follow-up assessments are completed.

She also highlighted the emotional side of the recovery: messages, letters, flowers, and stuffed animals sent to her in the hospital, along with support from family, friends, medical staff, and fellow U.S. athletes. Vonn said watching Team USA compete helped lift her mood during the most difficult days.

Key takeaways from her update:

• Another surgery is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 14 (ET), with at least one more expected once she’s back in the U.S.

• She is largely immobile right now and said more imaging is needed to clarify next steps.

• She described the recovery as slow and complex, with uncertainty around the rehab timeline.

How this injury stacks onto an already brutal stretch

The leg fracture did not happen in isolation. Vonn’s Olympic attempt came after a prior left-knee ACL injury sustained in a crash just nine days earlier, a sequence that underscores how unforgiving downhill skiing can be—especially at Olympic intensity.

That two-injury span matters because it complicates rehabilitation planning. A tibia fracture can require a carefully staged return to weight-bearing; an ACL injury can require its own structured progression. Combining the two in the same leg can make the early phase of recovery more restrictive and extend the time needed to rebuild strength, stability, and confidence.

Vonn did not offer a definitive timetable in her message, and the full scope of her rehab remains unclear.

What “more surgeries” typically signals in a complex fracture

When an athlete references multiple planned operations after a tibia fracture, it often points to a staged approach: stabilizing the break, addressing alignment, managing soft-tissue concerns, and ensuring the bone heals cleanly enough to tolerate future load. Each additional procedure can also affect how quickly swelling resolves and how soon physical therapy can progress.

Vonn has framed the next steps in practical terms—get through the immediate surgical phase, then reassess once she’s home and further evaluations are complete. The biggest unknown for fans is not just when she can walk comfortably again, but when the leg can handle the demands of elite downhill skiing, if that is even a consideration after this injury chain.

What comes next for Vonn’s comeback story

Vonn returned to the Olympic stage after nearly six years away from competition, making her 2026 run one of the most closely watched comeback stories of the Games. This crash now shifts the focus from racing to recovery.

In the near term, the next meaningful updates will be medical: confirmation of surgical outcomes, any changes in the number of procedures required, and milestones like returning home, beginning more advanced rehab, and regaining mobility. Until imaging clarifies the full picture, expectations will remain cautious.

For now, Vonn’s own words set the tone: she’s grateful for the support, realistic about the road ahead, and taking the recovery one step—sometimes literally one careful step—at a time.