American skier Lindsey Vonn (41) faces two more surgeries after severely breaking her leg after falling on the downhill course at the Cortina d’Ampezzo Olympics.
The American is being treated at a hospital in Treviso, Italy, after crashing 13 seconds after the start of Sunday’s race.
The winner of the downhill gold medal from 2010 and the bronze from 2018 caught the gate with her shoulder, lost control, after which she flew into the air and fell at high speed.
He could be heard screaming in pain on television. Several doctors and staff quickly surrounded her before a helicopter arrived and took her on a stretcher to the hospital.
Vonn performed despite recently tearing the cruciate ligaments in her left knee.
In a video message posted from her hospital bed, Vonn thanked everyone for their messages and gifts.
“Hi guys, I just wanted to give you a little update and say thank you to everyone who has sent me flowers and letters. It’s just been amazing and it’s really helped me a lot. It’s been a pretty tough few days in hospital. I’m finally feeling like myself. I’ve got a long, long way to go,” she said.
On Sunday, she was operated on for the first time in Treviso for a complicated tibia fracture, and then twice more in the following days.
“I’m going to have another surgery tomorrow and hopefully everything goes well, and then potentially I’ll be able to go and come home, after which I’ll need another surgery. I still don’t know exactly what that entails until I get better shots, but that’s about where I am right now,” Vonn said, according to Hina.
(Vijesti.ba/FENA)
