US skier Lindsey Vonn says she has “no regrets” despite confirming she needs “multiple surgeries” after suffering a leg fracture in a crash at the Winter Olympics.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The 41-year-old was competing in the women’s downhill skiing final on Sunday in Cortina, northern Italy, when she crashed on the piste after clipping a slalom gate while midair.<\/p>\n
The crash, occurring just 13 seconds into the run, resulted in Vonn, who was airlifted to hospital, sustaining a “complex tibia fracture” and undergoing initial surgery.<\/p>\n
![\"Lindsey](\"https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/26\/02\/768x432\/skynews-lindsey-vonn-olympics_7159581.jpg?20260208202349\")
\n <\/div>\n Lindsey Vonn crashes 13 seconds into her run. Pic: AP
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She had already ruptured her ACL in a crash at a World Cup race in Switzerland on 30 January but was determined to compete at her fifth and final Games.<\/p>\n
In an Instagram post on Monday, Vonn said: “Yesterday my Olympic dream did not finish the way I dreamt it would.<\/p>\n
“It wasn’t a story book ending or a fairy tale, it was just life.<\/p>\n
“Unfortunately, I sustained a complex tibia fracture that is currently stable but will require multiple surgeries to fix properly.<\/p>\n
“While yesterday did not end the way I had hoped, and despite the intense physical pain it caused, I have no regrets.”<\/p>\n
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Despite coming into the Winter Olympics<\/strong><\/a> with injury, Vonn was still considered a medal hopeful and completed two impressive training runs earlier in the week.<\/p>\n The 2010 downhill champion had returned to elite ski racing last season after nearly six years in retirement, having had a partial knee replacement on her right leg.<\/p>\n She said her past injuries “had nothing to do with my crash whatsoever”.<\/p>\n Taking risks ‘the beauty of life’<\/strong><\/p>\n In her social media message, Vonn acknowledged the dangers of ski racing but insisted having the chance to compete “was an incredible feeling that I will never forget”.<\/p>\n “Knowing I stood there having a chance to win was a victory in and of itself,” she said. “I also knew that racing was a risk. It always was and always will be an incredibly dangerous sport.<\/p>\n “And similar to ski racing, we take risks in life.<\/p>\n “We dream. We love. We jump. And sometimes we fall. Sometimes our hearts are broken. Sometimes we don’t achieve the dreams we know we could have. But that is also the beauty of life; we can try.<\/p>\n “I tried. I dreamt. I jumped.”<\/p>\n Read more: International Olympic Committee (IOC) sports director Pierre Ducrey said the decision for Vonn to compete was entirely her own<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n He said: “She was able to train and make the choice with the excellent team that she has to take part.”<\/p>\n Mr Ducrey said it wasn’t for the IOC to say whether she should have participated, adding: “This decision was really hers and her team’s to take.”<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
Should Vonn have even been competing?<\/a>
Water cannon and tear gas fired at protesters<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n