Lindsey Vonn is opening up about the painful road to recovery after her devastating crash at the 2026 Winter Olympics — and it’s been anything but easy.
The 41-year-old skiing legend revealed she has now undergone her fifth surgery following the accident, which left her with a complex tibia fracture. Sharing photos and video from her hospital bed on February 20, Vonn showed the reality of what doctors had to do to repair her shattered leg.
“Made it through surgery… it took a bit more than 6 hours to complete,” she wrote on Instagram. “As you can see, it required a lot of plates and screws to put back together but Dr. Hackett did an incredible job.”
Her post included video of her being wheeled through the hospital, along with images of the dozens of screws and metal plates used in the procedure, plus X-rays revealing just how much hardware is now holding her tibia together.
Despite making it through surgery, Vonn admitted she’s struggling with the severity of the trauma.
“With the extent of the trauma, I’ve been struggling a bit post op and have not yet been able to be discharged from the hospital just yet… almost there,” she shared. “Baby steps.”
The Olympic champion had already undergone four surgeries in Italy after being airlifted to a hospital in Treviso following her crash during the women’s downhill event on February 8. Doctors stabilized her enough for her to fly back to the U.S. earlier this week on a private plane, where she immediately underwent another operation.
In a previous update, Vonn revealed the injury was far worse than she initially thought.
“My injury was a lot more severe than just a broken leg. I’m still wrapping my head around it, what it means and the road ahead,” she wrote.
Even so, Vonn made it clear she doesn’t regret pushing herself — even while competing on a torn ACL.
“I was willing to risk and push and sacrifice for something I knew I was absolutely capable of doing,” she explained. “I will always take the risk of crashing while giving it my all, rather than not ski to my potential and have regret. I never want to cross finish line and say, ‘what if?’”
For now, the road ahead includes more healing, more patience and plenty of metal holding her leg together — but if anyone understands resilience, it’s Lindsey Vonn.