Lindsey Vonn is addressing the haters… again.
“It wasn’t all for nothing… it wasn’t a dream… although sitting in this hospital bed it seems far away now…,” Vonn, 41, wrote via Instagram on Saturday, February 21, defending her decision to compete in the 2026 Winter Olympics despite tearing her ACL nine days earlier.
“But I did it. I came back. I won,” she continued in the caption, shared alongside a highlight video of her recent races. “I showed up and did what most thought was impossible at my age with a partial knee replacement. These memories I’ll have forever and I’m grateful for every one of them. Every moment was amazing. Every moment was worth it.”
After tearing her ACL in a World Cup competition on January 30, Vonn decided to compete in the Olympics despite the athlete publicly confirming the ligament was “100 percent gone.”
Just 13 seconds into her first run of the Games on February 8, she broke her left tibia after clipping a flag and crashing out. She was airlifted off the course in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, and transported to a nearby hospital where she underwent four surgeries.
She returned to the United States on Tuesday, February 17, and underwent several additional surgeries.
Critics jumped on Vonn after the second injury, with some claiming she should not have competed in the Olympics after tearing her ACL and, instead, let someone else compete in her spot.
Lindsey Vonn Getty Images
Vonn is having none of that, listing out her achievements in Saturday’s Instagram post.
“One thing that stung was when people said I was selfish and should give my Olympic spot to someone else,” she said in the post. “So… I just wanted to recap my season for all the haters out there that don’t understand what it means to earn your spot, and on a more positive note, to just reflect… #1 in the downhill standings; 3rd in sg standings; 2x Downhill wins; On every downhill podium all season; 7/8 podiums overall (only one 4th place).”
She continued, “It’s not impossible until it’s done. I didn’t reach my ultimate goal…. But I still did a lot. Thank you to those who believed! ❤️🙏🏻 #BELV.”
Vonn previously defended herself on social media after several people were questioning the extent of her ACL injury, even before breaking her leg at the Olympics.
“lol thanks doc,” Vonn posted via X on February 7, in response to a sports medicine doctor who was questioning the state of her injury. “My ACL was fully functioning until last Friday. Just because it seems impossible to you doesn’t mean it’s not possible. And yes, my ACL is 100% ruptured. Not 80% or 50%. It’s 100% gone.”
On Friday, Vonn shared a new photo of her broken leg, an x-ray showing what looks like a medal stabilizing brace on her bone.
“As you can see, it required a lot of plates and screws to put back together but Dr. Hackett did an incredible job,” Vonn posted via Instagram on Friday, along with a carousel of videos of her in the hospital with the x-ray photos. “Thank you Dr. Viola for the surgery assist as well!”
She acknowledged the struggle of her long recovery, saying she has not been on her feet in over a week.
Through it all, she claims her second, more grueling, injury had nothing to do with her original ACL tear.
“I was simply 5 inches too tight on my line when my right arm hooked inside of the gate, twisting me and resulted in my crash,” she shared via Instagram after the crash. “My ACL and past injuries had nothing to do with my crash whatsoever.”
