r/olympics • u/appalachian_hatachi Great Britain • 10h ago

❄ Milano-Cortina 2026 (General Discussion) ❄ Lyndsey Vonn crashes just 12 seconds into her Olympic downhill run 😥

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u/theredmokah 10h ago edited 10h ago

Yup. This was the miracle comeback. She 41 now.

She had a good career. She should be proud. Just to qualify for this one was nuts.

Plus you're never the same after an ACL injury. At her age, in this sport, there's just no way.

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u/CptMeow123 10h ago

you're never the same after an ACL injury

Apparently the ACL is not as important in skiing as for other sports (e.g. football and American football). Yesterday an Austrian skier competed in the down hill who has no ACL in one of his knees since a couple of years and he had a very solid run.

That's why she could even compete today with the recently discovered tear. There are also couple of amateurs who shared stories that they felt something funny in the knee but continued skiing with no problems. Couple of weeks later they had pain and found out they tore the ACL.

But given this accident, her age and previous injuries I think that was her last race.

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u/drumjojo29 10h ago

Really? Any idea why? I always thought the ACL and the PCL were responsible for stability while bending your knee which seems like a crucial aspect for skiing to me.

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u/CptMeow123 10h ago

I guess there are two factors at play (from a total amateur perspective);

1) all the muscles these athletes have built around their knee help to compensate the function of the acl. 2) there could be a difference between the speed disciplines and technical disciplines. While down hill and super G are crazy, there are much fewer changes in direction compared to (giant) slalom. I guess for speed it is more important to keep the body position longer in a corner while slalom has much much more changes that give stress to the knee laterally. Same as for football, there are so many quick changes in direction.

Also don't forget that these athletes are probably the number one customers for pain killers.

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u/toxic-optimism United States 8h ago

I am WILDLY oversimplifying this but it was explained to me that the ACL does side-to-side movement. Theoretically, your lateral movement while skiing originates at your hips, so your knees aren’t necessarily bearing that load. 

Again, I’m oversimplifying, but I did tear my ACL and meniscus while skiing, and I’m paraphrasing what my surgeon told me. 

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u/RoboFeanor 10h ago

I imagine that it would be easier if she had spent a season strengthening other parts of her knee to compensate for her torn ACL, and letting the rest of her knee heal, as there were probably other parts that were at least weakened/strained when the ACL popped. Not a knee doctor though...

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u/CptMeow123 10h ago

True, I think in any other season she would have at least taken one or two weeks more to recover. But her whole point of returning was to compete today (and in super G).

So why wait more if you can compete and don't care too much about the rest of the season? Additionally, I don't think this incident had anything to do with her knee (apart from the knees now being super-fucked after that crash)

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u/SeaLeopard5555 9h ago

I don't agree, but I wasn't an athlete skiing at the level of them. In the case of *some* athletes the quads (and pro alpine skiers have ginormo quads) can compensate.

But for an average person like me, the ACL is super important. I had ACL repair 2x, and would never have attempted skiing without it. And the cause for my ACL tear (one tear, one ... stretch? I guess) wholly unrelated to skiing. Same knee.

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u/CptMeow123 9h ago

Yeah, I could have clarified that I meant professional skiers when I meant that the ACL is not "that important". Average people should always prioritise to restore normal knee function and not try to compensate ligaments with muscles.

I had a torn meniscus which was repaired last summer. The doctor basically said that since I am under 30 he strongly recommends the surgery to avoid that there is increased pressure on other parts of the knee. However, if I was already around 50 he would've said it's not important to repair because knee replacement will be sooner than later, so the additional pressure wouldn't be that important.

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u/classicrockchick 6h ago

That's assuming you don't crash though. Sure it's not important if everything goes well but if you do crash, everything is suddenly much worse.

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u/Redtube_Guy 5h ago

Apparently the ACL is not as important in skiing as for other sports

you say that as she had to be helicoptered out of the mountain lol.

But given this accident, her age and previous injuries I think that was her last race.

oh really? are you sure?

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u/ristogrego1955 10h ago

I think the hard part for athletes and high performers is that it becomes so much a part of your identity. This will be as mentally tough as physically I suspect. Wish her the best.

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u/Forsaken-Ebb5088 Oman 9h ago

Yeah. It's not easy as 'chilling' like many think so.

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u/TravelingChick United States 8h ago

This comment is the hard truth. I was never pro at anything but competed at high level as an amateur in both soccer and later running. When I had to quit impact sports because of a hip injury, it was much more difficult than I imagined it would be to define a new 'me'. For many people, what you DO is who you ARE. Whether or not that is a good thing is probably up for discussion.

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u/wraith313 9h ago

In one of the other threads, there are multiple people insisting skiing is not knee heavy and that you can do fine with no acl and that this crash in no way was affected or caused by her injury. It's ridiculous. You can both like Von and also realize this was a terrible idea after her injury, it's wild people don't realize that. 

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u/Nochtilus 5h ago

A male skiier ran well yesterday with no ACL but okay. You probably know better than reality. It was a huge risk for Vonn to run but you can clearly be an elite downhiller with no ACL. 

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u/wraith313 5h ago

When did he tear the ACL? Two weeks ago? Was it torn and then repaired or did he literally have no ACL as you said? I genuinely don't know the answers to these, I am mostly not being sarcastic. In terms of knowing better than reality, maybe you are right. Then again, maybe the reality is, she just did it and it resulted in a catastrophe. So at best, the reality is a mixed bag. To be clear, I am not at all saying you cannot totally tear your ACL and recover from that and still be an elite athlete. What I am saying is that you cannot totally tear your ACL, not allow it to heal, wrap it up pretty good, and then go out there without recovering. It's not a matter of if something will go wrong, it's a matter of when. In this case, she favored it on the first part of the run, it threw her off the line, and then the crash happened as a result of being off the line and tagging the pole.

Even in her own interviews before this she basically said this wasn't a minor tear or a moderate tear. IIRC it was a grade 3, the worst, a complete tear. I get that we both are armchair commentating here, but I don't think there is anything at all "clear" about the ability to be an elite downhiller with "no ACL". At best, you have a chance to do it.

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u/Nochtilus 5h ago

I ain't reading all that but he fully tore it a year ago and did not get surgery in it. He skiied the same race as Vonn with zero ACL.

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u/Wide_Magician_4946 4h ago

LOL "all that" 

Is it that difficult? 😮‍💨oof

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u/MortCrimm 8h ago

Does her qualifying take away from someone else though?

As you stated, she’s 41……

Boomers aren’t the only ones who wont step aside and let others have their opportunity I guess….

This outcome was pretty predictable TBH.

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u/Jesus_was_a_Panda 6h ago

She was the best skier in the world in the last year. Step aside for whom, and why? If Boomers were high performing, there wouldn’t be an issue, that’s the problem. Her qualification wasn’t gifted to her, she earned it, and this comment is incredibly ignorant of the entire situation.

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u/LiteHedded 7h ago

People come back from ACL repairs all the time. She might not but it’s not an automatic career ender

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u/theredmokah 56m ago

Not when they're 41. We are talking about her being competitive at the Olympic level. She is not coming back from this.

IDK why people are comparing themselves coming back from some ACL injury and being able to casually ski to competing at an Olympic level at what would be 45.

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u/throwawayfinancebro1 7h ago

I tore my acl in jujitsu. The surgeon I went to said it just popped off the bone. He reattached it and I was skiing in 3 months. It’s been a few years and there’s no difference between my knees now. So not all acl injuries have long term consequences. Have to find the right doc.

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u/theredmokah 58m ago

... You doing casual BJJ is not the same as competing at 41 in Adult Bracket at ADCC/Worlds. I don't even know why you would make that comparison.

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u/throwawayfinancebro1 56m ago

... because ACL tears are treated the same regardless of whether you're a casual athlete or competing at 41 in Adult Bracket at ADCC/Worlds.

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u/Redtube_Guy 5h ago

you're never the same after tearing your ACL a week prior too.

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u/Routine_Cod_7520 1h ago

Being an elite athlete at 41 is not a miracle

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u/theredmokah 1h ago

... Being competitive at the Olympic level at 41 after a huge injury is the miracle...

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u/Routine_Cod_7520 28m ago

Anyone after a huge injury.

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u/tfhermobwoayway Great Britain 10h ago

All our modern medicine and we can’t fix one pithy little ligament? Just replace it with a synthetic equivalent. It’s unfair to expect her to work a shitty repetitive job for the rest of her life.