Vonn joins list of Winter Olympic athletes willing to push boundaries with injuries
In this image taken from video provided by Olympic Broadcasting Services, OBS, United States' Lindsey Vonn is prepared for evacuation after crashing during an alpine ski women's downhill race, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. Credit: AP/Uncredited
MILAN — The determination that fuels an athlete’s ascent to the Olympics can explain why they believe they’re capable of enormous feats — even when they’re injured.
Lindsey Vonn tore her left ACL but nine days later put on a brace and let it fly in the women’s downhill at the Milan Cortina Olympics. It ended badly, with Vonn crashing early in the race and breaking a bone in her left leg.
Other Winter Olympic athletes have faced hard decisions about whether to compete with serious injuries.
Here’s a look:
Majdic wins bronze with broken ribs, punctured lung
The 2010 Vancouver Games was the third Olympics for cross-country skier Petra Majdic of Slovenia. She had yet to win a medal. On the day of the women’s individual sprint classic, she slipped while on her warm-up lap before the qualification time trial and fell about 10 feet into a gully.
“I was starting to scream badly. With that scream, I start to feel really bad pain in my back,” she told the Olympic Channel. “Somehow I climbed out of that hole.”
Majdic powered through the qualification run and then saw a doctor, who gave her the OK to continue, she explained. She went back to the slopes and got through the quarterfinals and semifinals — and finished third in the final to take the bronze medal.
Finnish skier Aino-Kaisa Saarinen, on ground, falls behind Slovenia athlete Petra Majdic, at the finish line in Cross Country Skiing individual sprint action, Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2010, at the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games at Whistler Olympic Park. Credit: AP/Boris Minkevich
The pain was “killing me,” but she had told herself “do not come back to Slovenia without a medal.”
Majdic had to be helped onto the podium and was later hospitalized.
It turned out she had several broken ribs and a punctured lung, a further exam showed, according to Slovenia's state news agency.
Goggia takes silver medal on damaged knee
Italian skier Sofia Goggia knows a bit about racing with an injured knee, too. She sustained a partially torn knee ligament less than a month before winning the women’s downhill silver medal at the 2022 Beijing Games.
Italy's Sofia Goggia celebrates winning the bronze medal for an alpine ski women's downhill race, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. Credit: AP/Andy Wong
Italy’s team had said Goggia also had a “minor fracture” in that leg and some tendon damage.
She had been told she needed to use crutches for at least 10 days after her crash. She gave it three — and then started preparing to race.
Goggia even fell on a practice run and told her coach “I don’t know if I can do this.” Ultimately, she came close to repeating as Olympic champion, after having won gold at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games.
On Sunday, Goggia added a bronze medal to her Olympic collection.
Canadian moguls skier competes 1 month after ACL tear
Philippe Marquis relied on messages like “Keep Fighting” and “What ACL” to stay motivated after tearing his right ACL during training in Utah a month before the Pyeongchang Olympics in 2018. The Canadian moguls skier used a Sharpie to write the messages on his gloves. They included "Engage" and “Fire.”
The Quebec native finished 20th.
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