Lindsey Vonn has hinted that she could defy the odds and race again despite being urged by her dad to retire from skiing after her horror crash at the Winter Olympics.
The 41-year-old has had eight surgeries after suffering a complex left leg fracture – one that nearly led to a leg amputation – in the women’s downhill skiing race on February 8. She needs at least one more to repair a torn ACL in that same knee.
Following her terrifying injury, Vonn’s father Alan Kildow stressed that it should mark the end of her legendary career in the sport, saying: ‘There will be no more ski races for Lindsey Vonn, as long as I have anything to say about it.’
However, Vonn has played down those comments from her dad and warned him that pleading with her not to do something often has the adverse effect.
‘My dad jumped the gun. He knows by now that if you tell me not to do something, I’m gonna do it,’ she said during an appearance on CBS Mornings.
‘I want to ski regardless of if I’m racing,’ Vonn then added. ‘I love the mountains, that’s always been my passion’.
Lindsey Vonn has hinted she could defy the odds and race again despite her horror leg break
Vonn has had eight surgeries after suffering a complex left leg fracture at the Winter Olympics
The 41-year-old was urged by her father (left) to walk away from skiing after the injury
Vonn has admitted she likely would have retired once again if she was able to complete a comeback season that rivaled one of the best of her career. She ended a six-year absence from the sport largely to race at Cortina, Italy, one of her favorite courses, and the venue for the Milan Cortina Games.
The winner of three Olympic medals, including a downhill gold in 2010, crashed just 13 seconds into the race and suffered a complex tibia fracture, shocking a star-studded crowd and ending a season in which she led the World Cup downhill standings and hadn’t finished worse than fourth in any race.
During an interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday, Vonn revealed she is not ready to make a decision on her future just yet.
‘I just don’t want to jump to any conclusions or even speculate on what I might do,’ she said. ‘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.’
She’s returned from an assortment of injuries before – she has a titanium implant in her right knee – but this one was different. The pain was different. The eight surgeries are just one shy of the total she had for all the others combined.
‘It’s a much different injury in that way, again, like the severity of the injury and understanding that I could have lost my leg and how bad things were,’ Vonn said. ‘I can deal with a lot of pain, but this was so extreme. It’s not even been in the universe of pain with this injury as what I´ve had before.’
