Winter Olympics 2026: Lindsey Vonn completes successful training run on torn ACL

Regardless of greater than an hour delay for fog, Lindsey Vonn cleared a significant hurdle earlier than Sunday’s Olympic girls’s downhill with a profitable coaching run in Cortina on Friday, precisely one week after she tore the ACL in her left knee and was airlifted off a mountain in Switzerland.

Finishing the coaching run was not solely thought-about a key take a look at of the knee, it was a requirement if the 41-year previous Vonn was going to compete for a fourth Olympic medal 16 years after profitable gold in Vancouver. One in every of Vonn’s three alternatives to finish a coaching run was eradicated Thursday when officers cancelled it because of heavy snow and harmful circumstances.

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Vonn solely wanted one, navigating the Olympia delle Tofane slope comparatively cleanly in 1:40.33. It’s unclear whether or not Vonn intends to take part in Saturday’s coaching.

Whereas considerably unprecedented for an athlete to even try competing at an Olympic degree with an harm that usually requires reconstructive surgical procedure and a minimal nine-month rehabilitation interval, Vonn mentioned in a press convention earlier this week that she had minimal ache and swelling within the knee and that it felt secure. These assertions have been backed up by a coaching video she posted to Instagram on Thursday exhibiting Vonn progressing by way of a high-intensity exercise that included weighted squats and field jumps.

She posted one other social media message earlier than Friday’s run with a smiling selfie and mountains within the background with a caption:  “Nothing makes me happier!”

The profitable coaching run ought to allay some fears that Vonn was too formidable in making an attempt to compete at these Winter Video games. Although orthopedic consultants interviewed by Yahoo Sports activities pressured {that a} regular particular person couldn’t and shouldn’t try to do what Vonn is doing, Dr. Yair David Kissin of the Hackensack College Medical Heart mentioned it was a “nice instance that each case must be individualized.”

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He added: “It brings tears to my eyes as a sports activities drugs ACL physician, a knee physician, that she will attain that degree of athleticism, of efficiency, after going by way of what she’s gone by way of. No one sees the work she put in. It’s important to respect and admire that.”

The fog rolled in roughly halfway by way of the course after simply 5 rivals and only some minutes earlier than Vonn’s scheduled run, virtually eliminating visibility throughout a key part of the course. Vonn appeared to stay in good spirits by way of the delay, at one level working towards dances along with her American teammates.