The skier tumbled during a run at the world championships in Austria, and was clearly in pain.
Lindsey Vonn sustained tears to the anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligament in her right knee in a crash during the world championships in Schladming, Austria, a source close to the Alpine Olympic gold medalist told Yahoo! Sports. The U.S. ski team confirmed the injury and said Vonn also suffered a lateral tibial plateau fracture in her right leg.
The injuries are expected to require surgery as well as a lengthy rehabilitation and could jeopardize Vonn’s 2014 Olympic bid in Sochi, Russia. The U.S. Ski team said in a statement that Vonn will be out for the remainder of this season but “is expected to return to racing for the 2013-14 Audi FIS World Cup season and the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi.”
Following a lengthy fog delay, Vonn crashed midway through the super-G course during the world championship event. She came off a jump and caught the edge of her right ski and twisted her leg violently before going down. She lay on the course for 12 minutes before being airlifted.
Vonn returned to skiing full time in January after being hospitalized for two days in November with an intestinal illness. She said publicly that she was still recovering from the illness, which kept her off the ski course for 11 days before she resumed practice.
Vonn captured downhill gold in the 2010 Vancouver games, while taking bronze in the super-G. Vonn entered the race with 59 world cup skiing wins, three shy of tying the all-time women’s record of 62, held by Austria’s Annemarie Moser-Proell.
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