- Vonn, now 39, won her sole gold medal at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, CA
- She blew her right knee twice and tore her ACL, also twice, among other injuries
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Lindsey Vonn has admitted to being in pain ‘all the time’ since retiring from pro ski racing in February 2019, as the Olympic gold medalist revealed that she called time on her 19-year career because the risk ‘outweighed’ the reward.
The 39-year-old, who ranks third amongst female skiers with the most World Cup overall championships of all time (4), blew her right knee twice, tore her ACL, also twice, and suffered bad meniscus damage as well as a fractured tibial plateau amongst other injuries throughout her years as a competitor.
When asked if she had thought about all of the long-term damage to her body while still out on the slopes in the years prior to her retirement nearly five years ago, Vonn told the ‘In Depth with Graham Bensinger’ show: ‘I didn’t really think about it…
‘But now I think about it,’ she added with a giggle. ‘Yeah, I mean, I’m in pain all the time. Like I work out not because… I mean I love working out and I think it helps me you know get over ski racing. But also, I have to work out.
‘If I don’t work out, my knee is in extreme pain. Like, I have a hard time walking the dogs for 10 minutes. Because if I don’t strengthen the muscles around my knee, then…
Olympic gold medalist Lindsey Vonn said she needs to work out to feel less pain in her knees
Vonn, now 39, skied professionally from 2000 to 2019, racking up four World Cup overall titles on top of her achievements at the Olympics
‘It’s bone-on-bone right now and if I’m not strong enough then it’s unreal painful. So… And that’s just one of many joints and injuries I’ve had so I’m really not looking forward to what things look like in 20 years.’
Vonn, who was the first American woman to win the gold medal in downhill at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada, confessed that she’s thinking about whether she needs a knee replacement and when exactly.
‘This is life now,’ she said of her physical health. ‘So, how do I manage this to live with as little pain as possible? And I’m trying to make it through ’cause if I had an even partial knee replacement, I need another knee replacement in 10 years.
Vonn won a gold medal in Alpine Skiing at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics at Whistler
Nearly five years after retiring in Feb. 2019, Vonn is thinking about getting a knee replacement
‘So, how many times, like, I don’t know is there a maximum like knee replacement you can have? I don’t know that.
‘I’ve already had more stem-cell injections then like anyone they’ve ever done and it’s not really helping so I don’t really know what my options are at this point but I’m hoping someone comes up with something.’
Reflecting over comments made the night before her final race, when she said it’s ‘really scary to think about not having something I love so much but I also want a future,’ Vonn said: ‘Yeah, I mean, that’s exactly how I felt and I still feel, you know. I still have to look forward to the future, you know.
‘But at what point does the risk outweigh the reward? And I reached that point.’
