Olympic champion Lindsey Vonn said Wednesday that her ninth surgery in the past nine months “went well,” and she shared a photo of the hardware removed from her leg.
Vonn, 42, came out of retirement for another shot at Olympic glory and had earned a spot on the U.S. ski team. In January, she crashed on the mountain in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. Her left leg suffered devastating injuries, and the first eight surgeries were to repair those.
The surgery she underwent Monday was to repair her left ACL, which she tore when she crashed in her final World Cup race of the season at Crans-Montana, Switzerland, in January.
She got the OK to compete in the Olympics and was considered to be the favorite to win the gold medal, given her strong showing on the World Cup circuit. Vonn crashed 13 seconds into the downhill on Feb. 8 and was taken off the course by helicopter.
She underwent her first surgery that day in an Italian hospital.
The ACL repair needed to wait for full recovery from the previous surgeries, including one that screwed in the plates to stabilize her ACL, she has said. Those were removed on Monday.
In a social media post that included a photo of her in a hospital bed, posted Wednesday, she said she would provide an update “soon” on her condition.
It is expected she will need six to nine months of recovery and rehab following the Monday surgery, which was performed at the Steadman Clinic in Vail, Colo.
–Field Level Media
