About 48 hours after Lindsey Vonn told reporters that she planned to compete at the 2026 Winter Olympics despite “completely rupturing” her ACL, the 41-year-old posted a high-intensity workout video of herself Thursday on Instagram.
It showed Vonn performing barbell front squats, dynamic quick jump squats, horizontal butt kicks, side lunges and box jumps — all exercises that put a significant strain on her right knee.
The caption said: “I’m not giving up 💪🏻 working as hard as I can to make it happen! Thank you to my team and everyone for your incredible support. Keep believing 🙏🏻❤️”
Knowing the extent of her injuries, it almost hurts watching her do that type of activity, but she didn’t show any visible signs of pain. No winces, no grimaces. No knee buckling. All intensity.
The brace on her right knee was the lone indicator of Vonn’s compromised health.
“Don’t Give Up On Me” by Andy Grammer appropriately played over the footage of the St. Paul, Minnesota native.
“I’m pretty confident that she can still pull off this dream. I’ve got no doubts in my mind that this is going to be OK,” said Vonn’s coach Chris Knight. “She’s been doing box jumps, she’s trying everything out, loads and stresses and things like that to just see where she’s at and see how she feels and she’s pulled up great from everything. No swelling, no pain.”
Vonn told the media on Tuesday that her goal is to compete in the women’s downhill in Milan Cortina. In order to do so, she must participate in at least one official downhill training. The first was scheduled to take place on Thursday, but was postponed due to bad weather.
Her next opportunity is Friday. According to the FIS website, Vonn is listed as a starter and will wear bib No. 10. Should she pull out of Friday’s training, Saturday would be her final chance.
Once she clears that checkpoint, and provided that she doesn't experience any physical setbacks, Vonn will be able to race in the Olympic downhill on Sunday, Feb. 8, at 5:30 p.m. ET. The event streams live on Peacock and NBCOlympics.com.
Her status for the super-G and team combined is still to be determined.