Lindsey Vonn reveals she nearly lost her leg after Olympic crash

Winter Olympics: Lindsey Vonn reveals she nearly lost her leg after crash that saw her airlifted to hospital Lindsey Vonn crashed in the women's downhill at the Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina on February 8, just days after already rupturing her ACL; she has revealed in a post on Instagram that she nearly lost her leg due to developing compartment syndrome Monday 23 February 2026 16:43, UK American skier Lindsey Vonn has described how she nearly lost her leg following her crash in the women's downhill at the Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina after having already ruptured her ACL. The American revealed she had a complex tibia fracture, a fractured fibular head and a tibial plateau fracture, which caused compartment syndrome. Vonn emotionally credited her surgeon, thanking him and the medical staff in Italy for all their efforts which meant she didn't need an amputation. Winter Olympics - latest from Milan-Cortina Choose the sports notifications you want Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Skiing icon Lindsey Vonn was airlifted after crashing in her final downhill race before the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics where she ruptured her ACL "The reason why it was so complex was because I had compartment syndrome, which is when you have so much trauma to one area of your body that there's too much blood and it gets stuck," Vonn said. "It basically crushes everything in the compartment, all the muscle and nerves and tendon dies. "Dr Tom Hackett saved my leg. He opened both sides of my leg and basically filleted it open, let it breathe and saved me. "I always say everything happens for a reason, and if I hadn't already torn my ACL, Tom wouldn't have been there, he wouldn't have been able to save my leg." Latest Olympics Stories Lindsey Vonn: Skiing star crashes at Alpine Skiing World Cup ahead of Milano Cortina Winter Olympics UK Coaching: New research by YouGov reveals sharp decline in female coaches in 2024 Alistair Brownlee: Two-time Olympic tri...