Lindsey Vonn was among the guests at Jeff Bezos’ party ahead of the 2026 Met Gala, where the Olympic legend is planning to take her first steps without crutches since suffering a horrific leg injury.
Vonn will join a host of celebrities, artists and fellow athletes at the glitzy annual event in New York City on Monday night.
It comes less than three months after her Olympic comeback was derailed by a nasty crash that forced the 41-year-old to have eight surgeries.
Vonn suffered a complex fracture – and even faced the threat of losing her leg – after falling during the women’s downhill skiing at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
She has spent the past few months undergoing rehab, progressing from the hospital bed to a wheelchair and then to crutches. She recently revealed that the punishing recovery has taken a toll on her mental health.
The 41-year-old was pictured on crutches – and in high heels – as she headed to the pre-Met Gala party on Saturday.
Lindsey Vonn was on crutches as she attended Jeff Bezos’ party ahead of the 2026 Met Gala
Vonn faced the threat of amputation after suffering a nasty leg injury at the Winter Olympics
But Vonn revealed earlier this week that she plans to take on the iconic Met Gala staircase on her own two feet on Monday night.
She told CNN News Central that the entrance to the Metropolitan Museum of Art has become ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ in her long rehabilitation.
‘There are a few stairs. Yes, it’s going to be intense,’ she said. ‘I was like: “Can I do this? Can I do this?” [But] Thom Browne asked me a long time ago.
‘It’s been the thing that I’m like: “Can I get there?” It’s been the light at the end of the tunnel. I’m going to try to walk.’
Vonn continued: ‘It’s supposed to be my first day of walking a little bit without crutches. So from the start to the top of the stairs, if I can make it with no crutches, that’s a huge win.’
Vonn still needs at least one more surgery to repair a torn ACL in her knee and the 41-year-old admitted that she remains in ‘survival mode’ following the sickening crash.
‘I think you have to be reflective. And I haven’t really been able to be that reflective yet, because I’m still in survival mode,’ she told CNN.
‘I’m still really fighting my way through it. I’ve tried to start my therapy with my therapist and I just can’t really get there yet. And there will be a lesson. And, you know, I always try to look at the positives of everything.
The 41-year-old was urged by her father (left) to walk away from skiing after the injury
‘Maybe this is going to be the best thing that’s ever happened to me in my life. Maybe some door will open that would never otherwise be open to me.
‘So as horrible as this is and as hard as it is, like, who knows where the future will take me in? I’m just kind of along for the ride.’
Despite the gruesome injury, Vonn recently hinted that she could defy the odds and race again – despite being urged to retire by her father.
‘My dad jumped the gun. He knows by now that if you tell me not to do something, I’m gonna do it,’ she told CBS
‘I want to ski regardless of if I’m racing,’ Vonn then added. ‘I love the mountains, that’s always been my passion.’
She added: ‘I just don’t want to jump to any conclusions or even speculate on what I might do.. I may retire. I may never race again and that would be completely fine, but I’m not in a position emotionally to make that decision at this point.’
