Lindsey Vonn has rejected mounting calls for her to quit skiing, insisting from her hospital bed in Italy that only she will decide her future after a horrific leg injury in the women's downhill at the 2026 Winter Olympics. The 41-year-old American, one of alpine skiing's most decorated athletes, used social media over the weekend to push back on speculation that the crash had finally ended her career, despite even her father publicly urging her to retire.
The news came after a brutal few weeks for Vonn. In February, during the Olympic downhill in Italy, she lost control at high speed and crashed heavily, suffering a serious injury to her left leg that required several surgeries and an airlift to the hospital. The accident followed a ruptured ACL in a training run in Switzerland just weeks before the Games, raising concerns among doctors, commentators, and fans about the risks she was taking to compete again at this level.
