Lindsey Vonn crashes out of Winter Olympics downhill
American skier Lindsey Vonn has had her ninth operation after breaking a leg and ankle in a crash at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
The 42-year-old uploaded a video on social media before the procedure, saying she was "praying" it would be her last operation and she was "nervous and anxious" but "excited to hopefully put it behind me".
Vonn explained surgeons would remove all of the hardware that was installed during eight previous procedures to repair her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL).
"I'm doing this beforehand because I'm actually getting pretty nervous about it," she said. "On the day of, I'm going to be focused and rested and trying to get through it."
"I've been waiting all these nine months so my bones could heal and we could fix the ACL and my bones healed which is great news.
"But obviously now I have the ACL and that means another six to nine months."
While racing in the Olympic downhill in Cortina - nine days after rupturing ligaments in her left knee - Vonn struck a gate and crashed 13 seconds into her run.
The 2010 Olympic downhill champion previously revealed the operations had meant she did not have to have her leg amputated.
Vonn, who is regarded as one of the greatest alpine skiers of all time, retired in 2019 after suffering numerous leg injuries.
She made a shock return in 2024 after a partial right knee replacement.
Vonn has won 84 World Cup races - second in the all-time women's list behind compatriot Mikaela Shiffrin.
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