Olympics-Alpine skiing-Skiing with a torn ACL painful but possible, say Vonn’s teammates

By Lisa Richwine

LIVIGNO, Italy, Feb 4 (Reuters) – Olympic skier Landon Wendler said he believes Lindsey Vonn can compete at the Milano Cortina Games despite a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), citing his personal experience of participating in competitions with the same injury.

Wendler, a member of the U.S. ski team for this month’s Olympics, said he took part in several moguls events, where skiers navigate bumps and perform aerial tricks, after tearing his ACL in December 2024.

“If you have strength and stability in your knee, it’s entirely possible to be done,” Wendler said on Wednesday. “It is very painful, but we athletes will do whatever it takes.”

The 41-year-old Vonn revealed on Tuesday that she had ruptured her ACL in a crash during a World Cup event in Switzerland last Friday. She also suffered bone bruising and meniscal damage, but said she felt stable and strong after treatment and planned to ski in the Olympics wearing a brace. Her first event is scheduled for Sunday.

For most, a torn ACL is a season-ending injury requiring surgery and six to nine months of rehabilitation. Racing in a downhill event, which puts intense pressure on the knees, would be extraordinary but not impossible, U.S. musculoskeletal scientist Douglas Van Citters told Reuters.

Wendler said he tore his ACL on a training day in Sweden and competed the next day with “very minimal runs.” He took a week off and skied in another moguls event for five days, and then decided to get surgery.

Teammate Liz Lemley, who also competes in moguls and has experience with a torn ACL, said that skiing with that injury depends on the severity of the damage.

“I think it’s entirely possible for her to perform because as long as your quad is firing correctly, you can still move your knee in the way that you want it to,” Lemley said. “I think she still has a lot of potential.”

Vonn already has defied skeptics with an impressive comeback at age 41, capping a career that saw her rebound from several previous injuries and surgeries.

“She’s set a new standard for what’s possible,” said Team USA freestyle skier Nick Page. “To come back through her time away, her injuries, her surgeries, everything, and then to come back to such a high level, it was such a shame to see her go down in that injury.”

It’s possible, however, that Vonn will pull off a fairytale ending, Page said.

“If there’s anyone that can do it, it’s her,” he said. “She’s awesome.”

(Reporting by Lisa RichwineEditing by Toby Davis)