Olympic champion skier Lindsey Vonn suffered a terrifying setback with just one week left until the Milan Cortina Olympic Games: a ruptured ACL.
But Vonn has made the risky decision to compete in downhill skiing anyway, and her teammate Breezy Johnson is backing her up.
Vonn's announcement sparked a bit of criticism from Olympics watchers, who questioned why the U.S. team didn't have an alternate athlete to replace Vonn.
But Johnson is firmly on Vonn's side, telling fans that skiing with an intense injury like an ACL rupture is far from unheard of.
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In a post on Threads, Johnson said:
"More athletes have competed without an ACL than you think."
But they rarely speak about it because of precisely the situation that has erupted here: uninformed criticism from the public.
As Johnson pithily put it:
"They just often don't talk about it because they don't want to hear about it from the peanut gallery."
Johnson also qualified that there are in fact plenty of alternates if it does turn out Vonn is unable to compete.
But it doesn't sound like that's likely to happen, despite the seriousness of the injury.
The ACL is a key ligament that connects the femur to the shin by passing through the knee—all vital components of basically any sport, but particularly ones like skiing!
So when Vonn announced she'd "completely" ruptured her ACL at a World Cup race last week, it was assumed her Olympics performance was out of the question this time around.
The accident happened on Friday January 30 in Crans Montana, Switzerland, when Vonn was racing downhill in very low visibility conditions and crashed on her way down.
She said:
"This is a very difficult outcome one week before the Olympics… but if there’s one thing I know how to do, it’s a comeback."
She has been defiant about her intent to compete in the Olympics, come what may.
On social media, many applauded Johnson for sticking up for her teammate and staying positive about her performance.
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And many also applauded Vonn for her grit and determination.
Vonn has insisted that her Olympic dreams are "not over," and that she will do whatever she must to stay in the game.
"I think I'm still able to fight, and I will do everything in my power to be in that starting gate."
"It was painful initially after the crash. I had a feeling it was bad, but I held out hope until I saw the MRI in front of me."
"But I have not cried, I have not deviated from my plan."
And based on her training run on Friday, Vonn looks to still be in good form:
Vonn plans to race in the women's downhill for her first event this Sunday, February 8.
