Lindsey Vonn Featured on Cover of Vanity Fair, Speaks About Olympic Injury

Of the moments people will remember from the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympic Games, Lindsey Vonn's brutal crash might be at the top of the list.

To recap, Vonn, who is 41, made the comeback of the century following a partial knee replacement. She was winning World Cups, had qualified for the Olympics, and was potentially on her way to another Olympic medal when she tore her ACL again nine days before the Games.

Despite the injury and extensive backlash from the public, Vonn arrived in Cortina ready to race and mentally at the top of her game. She skied in qualifiers better than most average folks with two ACLs, and lined up in the start gate for her Olympic downhill run. Thirteen seconds into the run, she made a mistake, and her arm caught a gate, sending her flying through the air. It had nothing to do with her ACL.

What followed a particularly violent crash was a helicopter ride to the hospital, four surgeries, and an outpouring of media attention.

The 2026 POWDER Photo Annual is here! Look for a print copy on a newsstand near you, or click here to have a copy shipped directly to your front door.

Vonn spent the subsequent days and weeks recovering, taking a medevac back to her home in Colorado, and undergoing a fifth surgery at the Steadman Clinic. She posted to her Instagram, updating the world on where she was and how she was doing.

Now, nearly a month since her last surgery, Vonn has appeared on the cover of Vanity Fair to give all the details of her harrowing accident.

The piece is well worth a read and, through interviews with Vonn herself, gives a firsthand account of the frankly traumatic experience in Italy. As if shattering her leg and ankle, as well as dealing with the damaged ACL, wasn't enough, every aspect of Vonn's accident, medical care, and recovery has been somewhat impacted by the public.

Fans and paparazzi swarmed her as she was tended to by medics on course, once she arrived at the clinic, and even as she was transferred by helicopter to a hospital in Treviso, Italy. Perhaps the greatest takeaway, though, is that Vonn, rightfully so, fears that this crash will be what people remember of the ending of her career, more than the success she'd found before it.

Of course, for all the criticism she received, Vonn also received an outpouring of support from far and wide. Vanity Fair posted a reel to accompany the cover story, featuring Vonn reading some of the messages she received.

It seems just about everyone from Wayne Gretzky and Prince William to Cristiano Ronaldo and Diane Swayer reached out. The full video is below.

While there's no doubt Vonn's crash will not be forgotten soon, I think it's safe to say neither will her accomplishments as a skier. Eventually, her massive stack of gold medals and Crystal Globes will shine through the shadow of her injury again.