Lindsey Vonn Faces Her Ninth Leg Operation and Hopes It Will Be the Last

Lindsey Vonn has undergone a ninth operation on her left leg after the severe injuries she suffered in a crash at the Olympic downhill in Cortina d’Ampezzo. The American skiing star shared her nerves and her hope for a final trip to the operating room in a video posted before the procedure. “This will be my ninth surgery,” Vonn said in the Instagram video, explaining that she felt quite anxious ahead of the operation. She added that she was praying it would be her last. According to her account, doctors planned to remove plates and screws from her leg and reconstruct her anterior cruciate ligament. Vonn said the ligament repair had not been possible earlier because of the extent of her injuries and the hardware in her leg. She waited nine months for the bone to heal before proceeding. She said the bone had now healed, but holes left by the removed screws would also need time to close. Her estimate for recovery was six to nine months, though she cautioned that the plan could change during surgery and said she would update followers. The skier had already torn her ACL during a World Cup race in Crans-Montana on January 30. Despite that injury, she competed in the Olympic downhill on February 8, where she crashed and sustained a complicated fracture of her left tibia. The report says she underwent eight operations following the crash, with Monday’s procedure bringing the total to nine. Vonn has repeatedly said she wants to ski again, but has not decided whether she will return to competition. The U.S. Ski & Snowboard federation named her to its 49-member team for the 2026–27 season, placing her in the women’s A team; the selection does not confirm that she will race. Vonn has 84 World Cup victories, including records in downhill and super-G, according to the report.