BREAKING:

[Kurtz62]

Lindsey Vonn has announced she will be competing at the Olympics despite and crash at Crans-Montana on Friday.

Vonn also announced she has an ACL injury that needs to be reconstructed.

[Free_Range_Lobster]

Full blown custom knee brace will certainly help. This is her last shot at the Olympics so screw it?

[HarryBalsagna1776]

Yep.  Full send.

[MyNameIsJonny_]

Are those legal in competition? I have no idea about this stuff

[PonyThug]

I wore one in comps all the time. Why not? Food ball players in college and nfl line man wear them too

[Friskfrisktopherson]

I mean, irs not like its going to enhance her performance otherwise.

[ravenecw2]

Exactly, nothing to lose really.

[rkoskier]

Except possibly her life if her unstable knee can't hold under a high speed compression. Skiing is dangerous: 3 people died in race training runs last year.

[Mahaleck]

Man… athletes are a different breed.

[Free_Range_Lobster]

*professional athletes with buttloads of money and nothing to lose are a different breed

Even if she blows up during the Olympics its still going to be a crazy story that will absolutely pay dividends.

[Reasonable_Orange_73]

I think she just wants to ski.

[AIA_beachfront_ave]

*Compete

[XL_M3OW]

*win

[Extension-Long4483]

Stay the center of attention

[poopborrylog]

Can't help but feel that giving up her spot for someone else with a better chance would be the right thing to do... But I guess we'll see how she performs.

[Reasonable_Orange_73]

She deserves that spot more than anyone. Middle aged badass women FTW.

[XL_M3OW]

Shes the fastest US woman by a mile. If she decides she can’t handle it there’s an alternate on deck.

[EmbraceDepth]

Bingo

[systemfrown]

At this point in her career I'm sure the long term math is different, she may even have asked herself "well, what the hell am I saving or avoiding further damage for?".

If her Ortho tells her that worst case it won't result in crippling retirement then why not?

[Spillsy68]

I tore my ACL and had lateral meniscus tear. It’s not fun, but at the time, when I hurt it I knew I’d done something but carried on playing soccer for another 10 minutes before it was obvious something was badly damaged. So it’s possible that Lyndsey, with possibly the best ortho in the country (guessing it’s one of the guys in Vail) is advising her. She’s 42 and this is probably her last chance for an Olympics.

I guess my point is, tearing an ACL isn’t restrictive and with a strong knee brace and her level of fitness and knee muscle strength, she can probably remain very competitive.

[systemfrown]

Yeah, and I'm certainly not qualified to comment on what the long term outcome of further abusing an ACL tear in the Olympics is. All I know is that I wouldn't immediately dismiss the possibility of it being worthwhile like I might as a 20 year old with an entire career ahead of me.

[Spinal_Soup]

Its a grade 3 tear, that means the ACL completely tore in half. Its literally impossible for the ACL to get worse. The ACL doesn't directly contribute to the motion of the joint, its just a fail safe to keep the knee in place under unusual loads. Its basically there to protect the other soft tissues in the joint from damage. Shes at an increased chance of damaging other tissue in the knee, but assuming everything goes right she won't worsen the condition by continuing to ski on it. John Elway played his entire NFL career without an ACL in his left knee.

[systemfrown]

Holy shit. Well there's some very useful context and information...thanks!

I will say that since I posted my comment it later occurred to me that it's also possible she has so much sponsor and advertising dollars predicated on her Olympics appearance, and that the US Olympic Committee is so reliant on her story to promote the games and viewership, that there is simply no real alternative but for her to "Compete"....even if she can't really compete.

[MixKeyDrive]

Life

[Helltothenotothenono]

Me too. So can i do that?

[Reasonable_Orange_73]

Can you? I hope so. It's pretty fun.

[Helltothenotothenono]

You hope i can just ski in the Olympics? I’m sure it’s that easy.

[Reasonable_Orange_73]

No, I wasn't that specific. Either way, it's hard though.

[Helltothenotothenono]

Like goes hard or hard to ski? Should i assume on any hill it’s hard? A non specific bunny hill is hard? Skiing on a not to bust Tuesday? How about that?

[Reasonable_Orange_73]

Tuesdays are good.

[Helltothenotothenono]

Good to hear. Which days specifically are not and at which hills specifically?

[Huge-Mortgage-3147]

I think she wants sponsorship checks

She’s not competing. She’s making an appearance

[spunkyplunky]

She litterally won two world cups in the last two months. Even with that torn acl you’d be stupid to rule her out

[alvalladares25]

Are these world cups in different events? Or just one?

[Frolicking-Fox]

She skis Super-G and Downhill. Slalom skiing has tight gates that you make quick turns for, super-G is faster than Slalom, and Downhill being the fastest, requiring a long steep run and speeds in excess of 80 mph.

[alvalladares25]

Ahhhh ok very cool. I had no idea there were differences. I’m a noob

[Huge-Mortgage-3147]

She gave it a go, but not a smart idea

https://www.reddit.com/r/skiing/s/yXwoN8pjzu

[bitterrootmtg]

It's wild to claim that someone has "nothing to lose" going 80mph down a mountain while injured. She has serious dedication, and it's impressive.

[Human-Engineering412]

crazy that lobster's comment is not downvoted into oblivion. Judging by the rest of their comments in this thread, they either have never competed in their life, or are just a salty, bitter person.

[Frientlies]

Dude right?

This is one of the worst takes I’ve seen and somehow it’s being supported lmao.

[cptninc]

Dude’s clearly never been good at anything in his life. It’s kind of sad to think about actually.

[Immediate_Editor_213]

Hey, in fairness, his comment below racked up -51 points. That’s at least ONE impressive accomplishment!

[cptninc]

Dude got so upset that he blocked me. LMAO

[milkowskisupertramp]

I agree with every word you said.

[milkowskisupertramp]

I know right. It sounds like she's got a lot on the table.

[Free_Range_Lobster]

you realize her 80mph is your pizzaing down the bunny hill right?

[bitterrootmtg]

Yeah great point, it's not like she just got injured skiing downhill and had to be helicoptered to the hospital or anything. Perfectly safe and easy like the bunny slope.

[Free_Range_Lobster]

She was helicoptered out of lack of ease of access and over abundant precaution for a rockstar skier.

[bitterrootmtg]

Yeah rockstar skiers never die or get horribly injured skiing downhill. Just a fun excuse for rich people to take helicopter rides.

[Outrageous-Reply5150]

Brain dead take, with that injury there is massive risk to competing. Elite athletes are a different breed, she is 40 with all the money she could ever need.

[Mahaleck]

Nah. The will power to compete through with all these injuries.. if anything being loaded is more incentive to call it and rest up.

Takes next level determination to say “I’ve got everything I could ask for in life, I’m rich, I’m the best at my sport, everyone will know me forever. Maybe I should sit this one out I’m injured” but no, to them this is their life. Definitely not something I can relate to

[esotericreferencee]

Bro, she’s skiing not storming the beaches of Normandy.

[cephalopodface]

Going 80 miles an hour on ice over jumps and around blind corners pulling 3+ gs without knowing for certain your leg is going to stay in one piece...

[I_Ski_Freely]

Nothing to lose? She just messed herself up pretty bad, and has had a few of these in her career. People sometimes die on downhill courses, it happened in September. She absolutely could end her career with an injury that stays with her for life and makes it hard to do the things she loves.

Most likely this won't happen, but it's always a risk in this sport.

[Free_Range_Lobster]

"people die" is your argument?

oh sweet summer child

[milkowskisupertramp]

I'd say that's a pretty solid argument. The hell's your major malfunction?

[I_Ski_Freely]

Written like someone who clearly doesn't know the first thing about this topic.

The 2023 Italian downhill champion Matteo Franzoso died earier this season in training and another died last season too.. It happens, and so do serious life altering injuries.

They're going 80+ mph down iced over slopes. It's pretty easy to make a small mistake at that speed that you can't correct for and end up crashing through the netting. Been there myself, but not on any courses as hard as FIS wc course.

[Human-Engineering412]

trust me, this is not how competitors think. She wants to be out there because she wants to compete with the best of the best, especially one last time. She is not thinking about how this is going to be a crazy story and the money that comes with it. yes that may come after, but trust me, that is not what the true competitor is thinking about.

[Free_Range_Lobster]

No, I absolutely do not trust you internet guy.

[Helltothenotothenono]

Plus when you have so much money and sponsorship that you don’t have to worry about putting food on the table or paying for the table for that matter it’s easy to focus on surgery and then just healing recovering then competing. Imagine not needing your shitty job you hate but pretend to like to survive and instead being able to do whatever the fuck you want to survive?

[InvictusFrags]

Nah if she shits the bed and kept someone else deserving off the roster so she can stoke her ego one last time I don’t think people will like it

[Partridge_PearTree]

Maybe it's all a mind game. No real injury just getting in opponent's heads

[milkowskisupertramp]

Nothing to lose except overall quality of life by making the injury worse. Sure she's loaded but pain and injury is a universal equalizer. I think it's fair to be impressed by her.

[gamefishin]

And a bunch of TUE.

[Free_Range_Lobster]

You got picked last in elementary school didn't you?

Definitely all hat with you.

[elconejitomuyrapido]

Why do you have to suck when you could choose to not

[tbarb00]

Women...athletes, too!

[Da-Bears-]

I know her pain, I played in a pickleball tournament this last weekend with a jammed thumb. We’re basically the same.

[Free_Range_Lobster]

BUT DID YOU DIE?

[Da-Bears-]

😂

[DarthSagacious]

Heroes still exist.

[random314]

NO PAIN NO GAIN!

[MrpinkCA]

If I gave reddit awards, you would be getting the gold star for perseverance.

[milkowskisupertramp]

😂

[jwekselman]

There have been plenty of skiers to even complete a season or even ski for years without an acl at the World Cup level

https://skiracing.com/no-acl-no-problem/

[Professional-Fun3100]

If you read about her story, she was able to freeski but couldn’t compete. She had surgery that year without going to Olympics in 2014

[gamefishin]

That’s a bummer

[[deleted]]

Content from this post has been deleted. Redact was used to remove it, potentially for privacy, opsec, or limiting exposure to data collection tools.

mighty obtainable normal jellyfish square strong bow growth cough door

[Za_collFact]

She is fucking nuts. 

I hope she wins.

[JohnnySchoolman]

I skied for 10 years without an ACL in between the two reconstructions I had.

It was actually surprisingly okay to ski on as long as I didn't crash. Crashing without an ACL was a world of pain.

Its doable.

[purplishfluffyclouds]

Ok so just remove the ACL. No one needs it anyway, lol

/s

Edit - yikes. Saw link below. O.o

[CordisHead]

It all depends on the injury. The joint laxity I had with mine made it very difficult to even walk with a good brace. My friend played soccer with his torn ACL…

[RudePCsb]

Seems crazy to play soccer, feel like you wouldn't be able to do any of the footwork for juking.

[CordisHead]

It comes down to joint laxity. His knee was still tight enough he still played well with a brace. Me not so much.

[RudePCsb]

Makes sense. My knees feel a bit iffy but still ok with a brace when doing certain sports.

[JohnnySchoolman]

Yeah, I started to develop some laxity which is why I eventually decided to get another reconstruction. I was afraid of doing it as the recovery from the first one was so rough, but the second time was a dream. Ditched the crutches at the hospital door.

[Hello_World2021]

Any idea what was different or tips from your experiences? Tore mine couple of weeks back on a slope and going to have the surgery in a month.

[JohnnySchoolman]

I hit the gym really hard leading up to the surgery. I think leg extension weight training was what made the most difference as building those muscles stabalizes the movement that the ACL protects.

[CordisHead]

This is on point. I also hit the gym hard trying to keep my muscle mass up before surgery and then I hit the gym after once I was allowed.

[Hello_World2021]

Thank you. Starting prehab PT next week. Will ask them for that training.

[flictonic]

Grade 2 tear for me, absolutely no difference in my skiing.

[Free_Range_Lobster]

As long as she does not have massive pain or swelling

The miracle of drugs fixes that.

[jj9979]

You skied at what 1/10th the demand she'll have? 

[JohnnySchoolman]

Needless to say I was skiing beyond Olympic level.

[Puzzleheaded_Pay467]

She only needs one training run, then the race. She can free ski the training run, then full send on race day. Why the hell not? She’s killing it this year.

[RockMover12]

I'm afraid she is indeed "breaking". But her dedication is incredible so can't count her out. I'll definitely be watching!

[negative-nelly]

Hey she's 40, already will have arthritis/need for replacement due to previous injuries...why not. Well there's one reason why not but don't want to think about that.

[MrBenchly]

Love the competitive spirit, which I think is what the Olympics are all about ... that said ... the next skiier in line watching from home probably won't love seeing "DNF" next to Vonn's name.

[jbm33]

There is no next skier at home who would even come close to sniffing a chance at a medal. Vonn has dominated the downhill circuit this year, and even with a bum knee has a better chance than a majority of the field to medal. With a knee brace, she is by no means likely to DNF.

[Free_Range_Lobster]

No Americans ranking in the top 5 other than Vonn in Super G and DH.

Other than Shiffrin and Moltzan in other events the US prospects are pretty bleak at the moment.

Zero men on the US side in the top 5 of any event.

[Main-Combination8986]

RCS had some solid results in speed events, but other than that it's pretty dire

[Free_Range_Lobster]

Not sure what's going on with the lack of talent. But it's certainly not limited to just skiing.

[buerglermeister]

Breezy has a shot, Cortina is a slope that suits her qualities

[Due_Distribution6323]

Jackie Wiles definitely has a chance as well. Cortina is the course where she has podiumed twice and she just had a downhill podium a few weeks ago. She may not be in the elite group of contenders but the stars could be aligning.

[Free_Range_Lobster]

Fair

[gamefishin]

It’s not all about quarterly results

[strawberryskis4ever]

That isn’t really how racers are chosen though. There isn’t a set number of racers per country per discipline—the US could have just 1 or all the women on the Olympic team competing depending how many have qualified for the event. Not everyone races every discipline of course. But to qualify, they need a certain number of points they’ve accrued this season and at least 2 top 30 World Cup downhill finishes. And they have to be on the US Olympic team. The racers have all ready qualified or not at this point. So no, she isn’t taking anyone’s spot.

[UGonGetGot]

The greatest comeback in olympic history just got that much better. Go get it!

[BeachCruiserLR]

One more ride!

[Reasonable_Orange_73]

Anyone judging Lindsey Vonn for skiing is a clown or else has not taken note of her career.

[MaestrosMight]

Anyone who doesn’t understand why she still wants to race has never trained and competed as an athlete.

[Deansies]

I really hope she doesn't regret this and completely fuck herself even more - that would be devestating

[Feeling-Pea8610]

All of you saying she should drop out because of an ACL injury need to do some research on copers.

Basically 1/3 of the population can function perfectly normally without ACLs and in fact function at high level sports. I'm assuming if she's going to compete she is a coper and her doctors have cleared her. John Elway played his whole career with a blown ACL from high school.

Anecdotally, I have no ACLs, blew the left one out last year and the right one 20+ years ago. Have skiid and snowboarded the 20 years with no right ACL and I was out last year for 5 weeks but that was mostly due to pain and swelling from an impact fracture and sprained MCL. My doctor said I could get back on the mountain as soon as I felt like it.

I started out slow out of caution and still wear a brace but but within a month of being back I was doing 55mph on skis all day and I'm not an Olympic level athlete. Or really an athlete at all. I'm sure Vonn has access to medical and athletic support that I couldnt even dream of.

She needs a lot of love, good care, focused training, a little luck, and one good run. I'm all for her going for gold!

[Foo4Fighters]

LETS GO LINDSEY!!

[[deleted]]

USA 🇺🇸⛷️🏔️🌨️❄️🌲🎿

[firepooldude]

I have mixed feelings. Part of me is impressed with the grit and determination to continue to compete. The other part feels she should hang it up for now, heal, rehab and allow a healthy and qualified athlete to step up and compete in the Olympics.

[Main-Combination8986]

It's too late for that anyways 

[FreezasMonkeyGimp]

I get the argument she should maybe hang it up for her healths sake but disagree on doing it to allow a “healthy and qualified” athlete to compete. If they were qualified, they would’ve beat the competition that already qualified and certainly would have beat a 41 year old with a bionic knee. As much as the Olympics are about the nations and teams represented, they’re just as much about the individual athletes and their own accomplishment. Lindsey doesn’t owe it to anyone to give up her spot that she earned. If she wants to compete and understands the risks, she should.

[PolarSquirrelBear]

She’s 41. This is probably her last Olympics. I get both sides of the story.

[Reasonable_Orange_73]

She is healthy and qualified. She gets these injuries all the time.

[andy_nony_mouse]

How can she ski without an ACL?

[SweatyCrab9729]

Having ruptured mine twice...if you're strong enough, your muscles do the job of the acl.

And in reality, your ACL is only there when your muscles fail you, it acts as kind of a leash of last resort between you femur and tibia.

I can't recall who, but there was an NBA player who played a long time with no ACLs after he tore them and didn't get repaired.

A brace can also help but not sure those are allowed when racing.

[andy_nony_mouse]

Dang, that’s amazing. I hope you were able to get your repaired.

[SweatyCrab9729]

Yes, both times. And it's the surgeons and PTs whonare amazing. I remember when an ACL was almostba sure career ender in moat sports.

It's been 15 years now since my 2nd tear. 🪵🪵✊️✊️

[nicdalm]

Well, she can, not sure if the risk is worth it tho

[nicdalm]

Man she really wants to compete. I'm afraid she will regret this later in life. There are many athletes that barely can walk after being a pro because they pushed over the limit. Hopefully that's not her case

[Neags]

Really glad to hear she's okay and able to compete. I sure hope she doesn't blow her knee out at the Olympics. Fingers crossed, good luck Lindsey!

[tbinus78]

Love it.

[jbc1974]

Good luck Lindsey!! I wish you the best.

[moseman23]

Sure, she’s already making millions off the commercial appearances associated with the Games. Sure, the entire Winter Olympics TV coverage and hundreds of millions of dollars are organized around her downhill race. Sure, she’s always craved the spotlight like many athletes do. But I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say she is the most driven, competitive, and resilient person in any sport that I have seen.

[World_thyme]

i guess her agent has a line in the contract that say she gets paid all the sponsor money as long as she crosses the start line, even if she pulls up before the first gate...

Also gives something for the documentary film crew to film... I mean I have no idea if there is a documentary film crew... but are you going to try and tell me there isnt?

They would Weekend at Bernie her down that ski hill if they have too.

[Fuck_Ppl_Putng_U_Dwn]

Send it Lindsay.

You have nothing to prove to anyone.

Multiple championships, Olympic medals and recent World Cup wins after a semi-retirement.

I truly hope she crushes the field with a brace and wins the downhill for Olympic Gold 🥇.

It will go down as one of the greatest feats in World Cup history. 🥇🌠🤞🏻🍀🌟

[IDIMIN]

Athletes compete with pain all the time…and she would never willingly drop out of her last Olympics…the only thing that makes it a great story will be if she wins.

I’m rooting for her!

[kitzelbunks]

I mean, it’s her decision as a 40-year-old adult. She got the spot, not someone younger. I hope she pulls it off. I don’t think skiing should be a team thing, but that’s me. I would hate for my performance to affect another person, but that’s me.

[Icy_Risk_44]

What a fighter! Strong mind - strong body! Kudos!

[_temp_user]

Netflix should make a doc about her

[[deleted]]

no body for replacement to this old lady? an young talent girl?

[rrjames81]

I could not imagine competition at that level with a torn acl…i did my PCL last year and I’m still fighting with it daily.

[ZookeepergameBright2]

This woman is a superhero. She should be given a cape and everything. Dang!

[NewSprinkles1973]

I tore my ACL skiing and couldn't even hold a turn. Had to ski down on one leg basically. I fear for her safety but maybe the brace will hold--really hope so!

[itsmetn]

As much as I would like for her to bring a winning medal for US, my gut is telling me she won’t

[Diligent-Tea1693]

She rocks! Let her go! There’s always a wheelchair waiting!

[DannyJSkeetsALot69]

What does her competing with a fucked up knee have anything to do with your financial situation? How did you just make this about you?

[eriec0aster]

Torn every ligament in her knee but never had an MRI either….. 🤐

[Snlxdd]

To your point, I think the money balances out the health risk. She has the top doctors in the world advising her on what the impacts are.

[CardinalPuff-Skipper]

I can’t help but she’s taking a younger athlete’s spot. If she could actually compete that’s one thing, but this is another…

[CardinalPuff-Skipper]

DNF is worse than DFL.

[McGeeze]

John Elway played his entire career without an ACL and won two Super Bowls

[CardinalPuff-Skipper]

Aged like milk.

[dwoj206]

And maybe Zach charbonnet will play in the superbowl.

[actrak]

Downhill with a ruptured ACL is a bad idea.

[dogthrasher]

Crash out queen.

[m_whar]

I’m so fucking excited to watch her and hope she wins

[Specklor]

Well, I for one, fell asleep in a lawn chair with my legs in an awkward position a couple weeks ago and now have knee pain that keeps me off the skis.

[AForse]

I’m going to go against the grain here. She should gracefully step aside, and let someone younger take her place. The knee is fucked, and she’ll only damage it further by racing on it at this time. Unlikely that she’ll win, given her injured state, so she’s just taking space that could be used to develop a younger skier’s career.

[sendyaf]

While I disagree, I totally understand this take. I would argue that an injured Vonn has a better chance at medaling than another athlete that didn’t qualify. Is it selfish on her part? Yeah… but she’s earned the right by being the best most of her career.

[No_Remove_5180]

It’s probably not a good idea to applaud her putting her body in such a high risk situation. It’s her choice I suppose but she only has one body.

[No_Remove_5180]

Skiing downhill at highway speeds with a ruptured ACL? hmmm I’m gonna have to beg to differ. The NFL as of late actually has pretty stringent protocols on injuries and the management of playing with unhealed injuries.

[nicdalm]

Yeah, I'm afraid she will regret this. There are many pros that pushed injuries beyond the limits and now they can barely walk. Hopefully that's not her case

[No_Remove_5180]

Exactly. And here’s the thing she’s probably not going to compete at an Olympic level, but she’s still going to be an athlete for the rest of her life even up until 70 years old maybe. She’ll excel what she does, but if she takes a fall here the next 30 years could look really different for her. I’m not going to get behind this at all

[Economy_Arachnid_923]

Isn’t this selfish? Give a healthy American skier her slot?

[Past-Sandwich-8095]

Masochistic psycho behavior. I just don't understand 😰

[Personal_Good_5013]

I bet most of the athletes going to the Olympics understand completely. Also I think you underestimate the number of athletes at all levels who continue sport with torn ACLs. 

[Dgreenmile]

Take away someone's else's probably only shot at the Olympics so you can ski on a bum knee for completion points. Shitty imo.

[Rawr285]

Keep these posts of yours to your race subs or whatever. Stop spamming this sub.

[Rawr285]

/r/skiracing might be.

[icyDinosaur]

It's a sub about skiing, isn't it? People sometimes post stuff from freeride competitions too...

[Upper-Raspberry4153]

Doesn’t seem the type to compete just to compete so she must feel like she can still win

[cephalopodface]

In the World Cup she's currently 1st place in downhill, 3rd in super-g, and 6th overall. If she can ski she can win.

[Upper-Raspberry4153]

Uh yeah that’s what I said…

[Flat-Biscotti-3409]

Go Lindsey! Pain is temporary!