CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — Lindsey Vonn is gearing up for the Olympic downhill, showing incredible resilience at 41. Just a week after rupturing her ACL, she completed her second downhill training run and finished third, trailing her teammate Breezy Johnson by 0.37 seconds.
“All good,” Vonn told the Associated Press, expressing confidence as she prepared for the competition.
Her coach, Aksel Lund Svindal, the 2018 Olympic champion from Norway, noted that Vonn was calm during her run, which he saw as a positive sign. “When she’s calm, it means she feels in control,” he said. “She knows she needs to push harder tomorrow because this is the Olympics. To win a medal, she’ll have to give it her all.”
However, Vonn has been landing jumps favoring her right leg, which occasionally throws her balance off. Svindal pointed out that landings are challenging for her. “Let’s try to avoid that tomorrow,” he advised.
Vonn is skiing with a supportive brace on her injured knee. In 2024, she had a partial titanium replacement in her right knee and made her comeback last season after nearly six years away from competition. Just before the Olympics, she faced a tough moment—a crash during the last World Cup downhill raised concerns about her future in the sport.
Nonetheless, she’s determined to compete at the Olympics. After a canceled training run on Thursday, she hit the slopes on Friday and Saturday. Although she placed 11th in Thursday’s session, times in training often don’t reflect true speeds as athletes may not push themselves fully.
Svindal acknowledged that Vonn’s brace impacts her aerodynamics but stressed that the focus should be on the race, not the brace: “There are doctors who wouldn’t be happy if she even considered removing it.”
Vonn holds the record with 12 World Cup wins in Cortina, showcasing her talent and tenacity.
As of 2023, sports injuries can significantly affect athletic performance. Data from the National Institutes of Health shows that athletes often require extensive rehabilitation to return to their sport. Vonn’s comeback story adds to the ongoing conversation about resilience in sports.
For more on the Olympics, visit AP Olympics.
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Lindsey Vonn, Olympic games, 2026 Milan Cortina Olympic Games, Send to Apple News, 2026 Winter Olympics, Sports, Aksel Lund Svindal, Athlete injuries, Alpine skiing
