Lindsey Vonn shared an update on social media from her hospital bed in Italy after she took a frightening fall during the downhill ski final the 2026 Milan Cortina Games.
In a video message posted on Instagram, Vonn thanked those who had sent her flowers, letters and other gifts while she recovers from a crash during her hospital stay.
“It’s just been so amazing and really helped me a lot,” Vonns said. “It’s been quite a hard few days in the hospital.”
Vonn said she’s “finally feeling more like [herself]” but that she has “a long, long way to go.”
The 41-year-old Olympian was airlifted after she crashed on Sunday only 13.4 seconds into her run during the women’s downhill ski event.
Star skier Lindsey Vonn crashed during the women’s downhill final on Sunday.
After a surgery scheduled for Saturday, she said she can potentially leave the hospital and go back home. From there, she may need a fifth surgery, she said.
Vonn previously said that recovery from a “complex tibia fracture” would require “multiple surgeries,” but did not give many more details.
At this point, Vonn said she is still “very much immobile.”
Though the injury took her out of the competition, Vonn said seeing her teammates perform has helped her recovery process.
“Go Team USA,” she said. “It’s been so great to watch and really lifted my spirit.”
Vonn shared an update Wednesday after her third surgery.
“I had my 3rd surgery today and it was successful. Success today has a completely different meaning than it did a few days ago,” she began her message.
Just nine days before the crash, Vonn ruptured the ACL in her left knee. Despite the injury, she appeared stable in two downhill training runs before her fall in the final.
However, Vonn said she doesn’t think the ACL injury played a role in her fall.
“I was simply 5 inches too tight on my line when my right arm hooked inside of the gate, twisting me and resulted in my crash. My ACL and past injuries had nothing to do with my crash whatsoever,” she wrote.
