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Cortina, Italy — Fellow Olympic U.S. alpine skis racers told CBS News Thursday that they judge their teammate Lindsey Vonn is inactive susceptible of competing successful the Winter Olympics despite rupturing her near ACL during a downhill tally past week.
"If anyone tin travel backmost from this, if anyone could bash it, it's Lindsey," Isabella Wright told CBS News portion a radical of U.S. athletes trained Thursday astatine a gym successful Cortina, Italy, aft their signifier tally was canceled owed to weather.
The 41-year-old Vonn — a celebrated skier who mounted a vocation comeback aft retiring successful 2019 owed to aggregate injuries — crashed connected Jan. 30 during a World Cup contention successful the Swiss Alps.
During a quality league Tuesday, she said she inactive plans to vie successful the Olympics. Her archetypal event, the women's downhill, is scheduled for Sunday.
"I haven't cried," Vonn told reporters. "I haven't deviated from my plan. Normally, successful the past, there's ever a infinitesimal wherever you interruption down and you recognize the severity of things and that your dreams are slipping done your fingers. But I didn't person that this time. I'm not letting this gaffe done my fingers. I'm gonna bash it. End of story."
Lindsey Vonn greets her teammate Isabella Wright astatine a property league successful Cortina, Italy, up of the Winter Olympic Games. Feb. 3, 2026.
Michael Kappeler/picture confederation via Getty Images
Vonn also posted a video to Instagram Thursday that showed her undergoing a workout with a brace astir her near knee.
Four years ago, teammate Breezy Johnson was successful a akin predicament arsenic Vonn erstwhile she ruptured her ACL a fewer weeks earlier the 2022 Winter Olympics successful Beijing, and was forced to beryllium it out.
"So, successful 2022, I ruptured my ACL successful aboriginal January, and due to the fact that the Olympics were coming up, I decided to effort to support skiing done it," Johnson said. "It's decidedly risky. But I mean, if it's your past games, and you know, already astir apt person a batch of genu damage, past there's not that overmuch to lose."
Teammate Jacqueline Wiles, who has skied with Vonn before, described her arsenic "definitely 1 of the toughest."
"I deliberation immoderate clip you're injured, trying to combat done that wounded portion you're inactive competing, portion the season's going on, it decidedly tin get successful your head," Wiles said. "But she's been done it much than anyone."
Vonn whitethorn beryllium 1 of the oldest taking portion successful the Winter Olympics, but she's surrounded by athletes who stock the aforesaid goal.
"I deliberation it's truly amusive to person the premix of personalities, the premix of experience, and truly conscionable provender disconnected of each other," Wright said.
Kerry Breen contributed to this report.
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Lindsey Vonn's teammates assured she tin vie
Lindsey Vonn's teammates assured she tin vie astatine Olympics: "She's 1 of the toughest"
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