Lindsey Vonn Narrowly Avoided a Leg Amputation After Her Olympic Crash

Downhill skier Lindsey Vonn is thanking her lucky stars for the quick work of a Colorado surgeon.

In an Instagram video on Monday, February 23, Vonn, 41, said that she nearly had her left leg amputated following her terrifying crash on February 8 at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Cortina, Italy. Vonn said that Dr. Tomas Hackett, a Vail, Colorado-based surgeon, performed a complicated operation that allowed her to keep the appendage.

“Dr. Tom Hackett saved my leg from being amputated,” Vonn said. “He did what is called a fasciotomy, he cut my leg open both sides of my leg—basically filleted it open—and let it breathe and he saved me.”

Vonn clipped a gate shortly after she started the Olympic downhill race. The impact spun her around midair, and she crashed to the snow at high speed. She suffered a complex tibia fracture and a fracture to her femoral head in her left leg. She underwent three surgeries in the weeks after the impact.

But Vonn said that the traumatic injury sparked a more serious medical condition called compartment syndrome. According to the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, the painful affliction results from the buildup of pressure around groups of muscles, and it can restrict blood flow or damage muscles, tendons, and fascia. Acute compartment syndrome, a medical emergency, sometimes occurs after a severe injury and can cause permanent damage.

“I had compartment syndrome—that’s when you have so much trauma to one area of your body that there’s too much blood, it gets stuck, and it crushes all of the stuff in the compartment,” Vonn said. “The muscles, nerves, and tendons die.”

Vonn said the surgery took place on Wednesday, February 18, and required six hours to complete. She also said her recovery has been slowed due to blood loss during her various operations.

“I had to have a blood transfusion, and that helped me a lot,” she said. “I was struggling and the pain was out of control.”

The crash and series of surgeries come after Vonn soared to the height of international downhill racing amid her comeback from retirement.  Vonn returned to racing in late 2024 after retiring from the sport in 2019. She scored impressive results on the Downhill World Cup in late 2025, winning two World Cup rounds and landing on the podium five times.

She appeared poised to challenge for a medal at the Cortina Olympics, but crashed and ruptured her ACL at the World Cup round in Crans Montana, Switzerland.

Vonn started the Olympic downhill race despite the injury. In her Instagram post, Vonn revealed that she also broke her right ankle in the pileup.

“I can’t tell you how painful it’s been,” she said. “It’s been really hard and it was definitely not the way I wanted to end my Olympics.”

Vonn added that the chapter has been the “most extreme and painful and challenging injury I’ve ever faced in my life.”

Still, the ski racer said she had zero regrets for pursuing her comeback, or for racing in the Olympics after her injury.

“I’d rather go down swinging than not try at all,” she said. “This year was incredible and so worth it.”