Lindsey Vonn reveals amputation was in play after crash at Olympics.

American skiing legend Lindsey Vonn has revealed in a heart-wrenching social media post that she nearly lost her left leg following a devastating crash during the women’s downhill event at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy — and that amputation was a very real possibility at one point during her treatment.

Vonn, 41, a three-time Olympic medalist and one of the most successful alpine skiers in history, suffered a catastrophic crash just 13 seconds into her downhill run on Feb. 8 at the Olimpia delle Tofane course in Cortina d’Ampezzo. After clipping a gate, she was thrown off course and tumbled into the hard snow, immediately signaling the severity of the incident.

Initially, the injury was diagnosed as a complex tibia fracture — a severe break in the shinbone often involving multiple fragments — and later updates revealed further damage. But in her Instagram update on Feb. 23, Vonn disclosed an even more frightening complication: compartment syndrome, a dangerous condition where severe swelling and bleeding inside the leg’s muscle compartments restrict blood flow and can lead to tissue death. If left untreated, this condition can necessitate amputation to save a patient’s life.

Vonn credited Dr. Tom Hackett, Team USA’s orthopedic surgeon who happened to be in Italy — originally due to an unrelated knee injury Vonn sustained before the Games — with performing an emergency fasciotomy. This critical procedure — cutting open the leg to relieve pressure — ultimately saved her leg from being amputated, she said. “He filleted it open and let it breathe, and he saved me,” Vonn wrote.

In addition to the tibia injury and compartment syndrome, Vonn also broke her right ankle in the crash and has required multiple surgeries. She endured extensive pain, blood loss that at one point required a blood transfusion, and weeks of hospitalization in Treviso, Italy, before being discharged and returning to the United States for continued recovery.

Now recovering at home, Vonn uses a wheelchair and anticipates a lengthy rehabilitation period. She estimates it will take about a year for the shattered bones in her left leg to fully heal, at which point doctors will consider additional surgery to address her previously torn ACL and remove hardware like plates and screws.

Despite the harrowing ordeal, Vonn expressed determination and gratitude. She said she has no regrets about returning from retirement to compete at these Olympics and drew strength from the performances of her Team USA teammates. “It was definitely not the way I wanted to end my Olympics,” she wrote, “but I always fight, and we keep going.”

Her story — of extraordinary physical trauma, expert medical intervention, and resilience — has drawn global attention, highlighting both the dangers elite athletes face and the life-saving impact of rapid medical care on the world’s biggest sporting stage.