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American Olympian Lindsey Vonn has responded to critics who criticized her for taking a spot on Team USA despite tearing her ACL and then breaking her leg.
Vonn is recovering from multiple surgeries on the broken leg she suffered in women’s alpine skiing at the start of the Milan Cortina Olympics. Last week she was transported back to the United States.
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Olympian Lindsey Vonn, alpine skier, speaks to the media during the US Olympic Team Media Summit in preparation for the Milan 2026 Olympic Winter Games at the Javits Center on October 28, 2025. (Vincent Carchietta/Imagn Images)
He said his effort to appear in the Olympics at the age of 41 “was not in vain.”
“It was all. And it wasn’t a dream… although sitting in this hospital bed now seems very far away…” she captioned a video posted on her Instagram.
“But I did it. I came back. I won. I showed up and did what most thought was impossible at my age with a partial knee replacement. I will have these memories forever and I am grateful for every one of them. Every moment was incredible. Every moment was worth it.
Lindsey Vonn of the United States concentrates before an official training session in women’s alpine and downhill skiing at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)
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“One thing that hurt me was when people said I was selfish and that I should give my Olympic spot to someone else.”
Vonn recalled being one of the top World Cup skiers during the season before making the U.S. team. She was first in the downhill and third in the super G classification. She made the podium in seven of eight events.
“It’s not impossible until it’s done. I didn’t reach my ultimate goal… But I still did a lot,” he added. “Thank you to those who believed.”
Lindsey Vonn of the United States arrives at the finish area of women’s downhill alpine skiing training at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
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Vonn has been posting updates about her recovery since she was in an Italian hospital. She said last week that she had not been on her feet since the injury.
