She nearly lost her left leg in a sickening crash at the Winter Olympics last month but Lindsey Vonn is still refusing to accept that her skiing career is over.
The 41-year-old American great got into a social media feud with a couple of followers who, perhaps understandably, assumed her career has finished after February’s horrifying incident that saw Vonn airlifted to hospital in Italy.
She needed multiple surgeries before being allowed to fly back to the United States and Vonn has been documenting the grueling road ahead of her just to simply walk again.
But anyone who assumed it marked the end of an incredible career is, it seems, mistaken. Vonn clashed with accounts on social media before released an emotional statement on Sunday insisting that nobody can tell her when to call it a day.
First, Vonn replied to a social media account with just 30 followers that referenced the apparent end of her skiing days by saying: ‘Who said I was retiring?’
A fan replied: ‘The ego is so strong in this one. Take your medicine Lindsey. You nearly lost your leg. Put your feet up and be done.’
Lindsey Vonn has incredibly dismissed claims her skiing career is over after her recent crash
Vonn crashed at the Winter Games on Feb. 8 and was airlifted to hospital for multiple surgeries
The 41-year-old Vonn moved to reject claims of skiing retirement on social media
Vonn then answered back: ‘Think you’re mistaking ego for joy. I’ve said it my whole life; I love skiing. I’ll put my feet up when I’m good and ready thank you.’
Vonn then took to social media with a wider message on what comes next, saying: ‘No, I’m not ready to discuss my future in skiing. My focus has been on recovering from my injury and getting back to normal life. I was already retired for 6 years and have an amazing life outside of skiing.
‘It was incredible to be #1 in the world again at 41 years old and set new records in my sport, but at my age, I’m the only one that will decide my future. I don’t need anyone’s permission to do what makes me happy.
‘Maybe that means racing again, maybe that doesn’t. Only time will tell. Please stop telling me what I should or should not do. I’ll let you know when I decide.’
Her answers may cause concern within her own family – even Vonn’s father said her career was over shortly after her leg break at the recent Winter Games.
‘She’s 41 years old and this is the end of her career,’ Alan Kidow told Associated Press. ‘There will be no more ski races for Lindsey Vonn, as long as I have anything to say about it.’
Kidow said of seeing his daughter crash: ‘First, the shock and the horror of the whole thing, seeing a crash like that… it can be dramatic and traumatic. You’re just horrified at what those kinds of impacts have.
‘You can go into a shock and emotional psychological shock… it’s difficult to just accept what’s happened.’
Vonn, 41, hit back at fans who assumed the injury means that her career is now at an end
In late February, after returning to the United States, Vonn shared an emotional and detailed video about how close she came to losing her leg.
‘It has been quite the journey, and by far the most extreme and painful and challenging injury I’ve ever faced in my entire life,’ she said.
‘I had a complex tibia fracture. Also fractured my fibular head, my tibular plateau, just kind of everything was in pieces. And the reason why it was so complex was because I had compartment syndrome.’
Comparyment syndrome is a buildup of pressure in the muscles caused by blood. Vonn said that her surgeon had to perform a fasciotomy to save her left leg from being amputated in a six-hour procedure.
And to make her recovery even tougher, Vonn tore her ACL days before the Winter Olympics crash in question, meaning that eventually she will need surgery to repair that.
An ACL surgery alone can take professional athletes around nine months to recover from.
Vonn had returned to the circuit last season after nearly six years of retirement and after a partial titanium replacement surgery in her right knee.
Her recovery, so far, seems to be going well though. She recently shared video of her on an exercise bike as part of her rehab.
