Lindsey Vonn is skiing on a completely torn ACL. Could she still win Olympic gold?
Vonn is skiing cautiously at the Olympics a week after tearing her ACL.
Lindsey Vonn, one of the most decorated skiers in Olympic history, skied cautiously during an official women’s downhill training session at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, on Friday. The U.S. skier's time currently puts the 41-year-old in ninth place, outside the top ranks.
Her performance is remarkable considering that just one week ago she tore the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in her left knee, an injury that would typically sideline most athletes.
Most people probably couldn’t get away with skiing with an injured ACL, Dr. Alexis Colvin, a sports medicine surgeon at Mount Sinai Hospital who has worked at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, told ABC News.
“She’s built differently than the rest of us,” Colvin said.
The ACL is a ligament that sits in the knee, connecting the thigh bone to the shin bone. Colvin described it as "a seatbelt in the knee" that provides stability but doesn’t have an essential role for every type of movement.
Some elite athletes like Vonn can continue certain high-level activities after an ACL tear by relying on exceptional muscle strength, neuromuscular control, and sport-specific adaptations -- a phenomenon described in sports medicine research as "ACL coping."
ACL tears represent more than 50% of knee injuries and affect more than 200,000 people in the United States each year, according to a Clinics in Sports Medicine journal study.
Girls and women face a higher risk of ACL injuries during sports because of differences in body structure, hormones, and how the knee is aligned, according to clinical guidelines from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. Strength imbalances and the way the knee moves during jumping, cutting and pivoting can also increase strain on the ligament.
"Women injure their ACL 2.2 times more than men," Dr. Riley J. Williams, chief of sports medicine at the Hospital for Special Surgery and professor of orthopedic surgery at Weill Cornell Medical College, told ABC News.
But Vonn is at an Olympic level of conditioning, Williams said.
Prior to her injury, muscles that help keep the knee steady -- including the core, hips, thighs, and glutes -- were already trained to operate at the highest level, which should help offset her ACL tear, he said. That level of conditioning can improve joint control and reduce unwanted knee motion, even in the absence of an intact ACL.
"Her tolerance for speed and demand is greater than a normal person," Williams explained.
Though Vonn said in a news conference last week that she has the "help of a knee brace," Williams pointed out a brace may not prevent further damage.
"The brace is very helpful for side to side, but what it does not do is protect you from rotation," Williams explained. "As she's going from one direction to the other, doing those fast turns down the hill, there's a rotational component that even the tightest braces are not going to protect you from."
While physical therapy can speed up the healing process, many people with a torn ACL will need surgery, Colvin said.
"If your goal is to restore the ACL, the only way you can actually do that is with surgery," she said.
Large studies show that most active adults who want to return to cutting or pivoting sports eventually choose surgical reconstruction to restore long-term knee stability.
But if anyone can power through an ACL tear to compete at the highest level, Williams said, it’s the three-time Olympic medalist.
"Who would you pick to try to ski Olympic downhill without an ACL? It would be Lindsey Vonn," Williams said.
Vonn will take to the slopes on Sunday for the women's downhill race.
Takisha Morancy, MD, is a chief emergency medicine resident and member of the ABC News Medical Unit.
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