In the women’s downhill skiing final on Feb. 8, Vonn lost control just 13 seconds after leaving the starting line. The athlete caught her right arm on a course marker, twisting violently before falling down the slope and landing heavily on her back with her skis entangled. Vonn screamed in pain as medical personnel rushed to her aid.

Vonn suffered a complex tibia fracture, has already undergone three surgeries, and is expected to require further interventions to properly repair the damaged bones.

Dr. Bertrand Sonnery-Cottet, an orthopedic specialist based in Lyon, France, warned that Vonn’s injury is so severe that amputation cannot be ruled out.

“The timeline is quite unpredictable. It will be months before she can walk normally again,” Sonnery-Cottet told RMC Sport. “Her goal now is first and foremost to keep her leg and be able to walk. I think we’re not yet at the stage of returning to high-level skiing. We’re not there yet, but some injuries like hers can end in amputation.”

Sonnery-Cottet noted that the photo Vonn posted on Instagram show her wearing an external fixation frame, a temporary device utilizing metal pins to stabilize the bone from outside the body. This indicates surgeons have not yet been able to fully repair the fracture.

“It’s important to understand that her injury is extremely serious and will cause her problems for at least months, and could even leave her with lifelong consequences,” he added.

Another French doctor, Nicolas Baudrier, told The Team that Vonn’s injury likely involves a fracture with multiple bone fragments, carrying a high risk of skin, nerve, or muscle damage. He stated that even for a young person, a complete recovery from such severe trauma would take about a year.

Medical experts have likened this level of damage to injuries sustained in high-speed motorcycle accidents.

Prior to the race, Vonn faced controversy for choosing to compete despite completely rupturing her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) just days before the event. However, she insisted that the injury was un to her accident on Feb. 8.

“My Olympic dream did not finish the way I dreamt it would,” the 41-year-old athlete addressed the incident on Instagram. “It wasn’t a story book ending or a fairy tale, it was just life. I dared to dream and had worked so hard to achieve it. I was simply 5 inches too tight on my line when my right arm hooked inside of the gate, twisting me and resulted in my crash.”

Vonn confirmed her tibia is currently stable but will require several more surgeries.

“Success today has a completely different meaning than it did a few days ago,” she added. “I’m making progress and while it is slow, I know I’ll be ok.”

Vonn remains one of the greatest alpine skiers of all time. She won the overall World Cup title four times (2008, 2009, 2010 and 2012) and claimed gold in the downhill event at the 2010 Winter Olympics, marking the first Olympic downhill title for a U.S. female skier.

She held the women’s record of 82 World Cup race victories before retiring in 2019, a mark later surpassed by Mikaela Shiffrin. Despite repeatedly being interrupted by severe injuries, Vonn made a highly publicized return to competitive skiing in late 2024.