Olympic ski icon Lindsey Vonn has revealed she is targeting a major recovery milestone at this year’s Met Gala following her devastating leg injury.
The 2010 gold medalist plans to take her first steps without crutches during the lavish event on Monday night, less than three months after her horror crash in Italy.
Vonn, 41, sustained multiple fractures and faced the threat of amputation after losing control during the women’s downhill event at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Since the accident, the alpine skier has undergone eight surgeries and has been forced to use a wheelchair and crutches during all recent public appearances.
However, Vonn told CNN News Central that she has set the Met Gala staircase as the ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ for her rehabilitation.
‘There are a few stairs. Yes, it’s going to be intense,’ she told the outlet. ‘I was like, can I do this? Can I do this? [But] Thom Browne asked me a long time ago.
Lindsey Vonn has revealed she is targeting a major recovery milestone at this year’s Met Gala
Vonn, 41, sustained multiple fractures and faced the threat of amputation after losing control during the women’s downhill event at the 2026 Winter Olympics
‘It’s been the thing that I’m like: Can I get there? You know, it’s been the light at the end of the tunnel. I’m going to try to walk,’ Vonn explained.
‘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.’
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.
Vonn also admitted that she’s still in ‘survival mode’ as she continues her rehabilitation from the sickening crash at the Winter Games.
‘You know, 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.
‘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.’
The 41-year-old was urged by her father (left) to walk away from skiing after the injury
Vonn’s update comes just days after she hinted that she could defy the odds and race again despite being urged by her dad to retire from skiing.
‘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’.
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.
