Skier Lindsey Vonn mentioned she plans to nonetheless compete on the upcoming Milano Cortina Winter Olympics regardless of sustaining a critical knee damage a couple of week earlier than her first race.
Vonn, 41, wrote in a Feb. 3 social media put up that she “fully” ruptured the ACL, or anterior cruciate ligament, in her left knee after crashing throughout a World Cup downhill occasion on Jan. 30. She mentioned she additionally suffered a bone bruise and tears of the meniscus, a bit of cartilage within the knee that acts as a shock absorber.
Regardless of the damage, Vonn mentioned her Olympic dream “isn’t over.” Her first Olympic race—the ladies’s downhill occasion—is on Sunday, Feb. 8. “After in depth consultations with medical doctors, intense remedy, bodily assessments in addition to snowboarding in the present day, I’ve decided I’m able to competing within the Olympic Downhill on Sunday,” she wrote.
Are you able to ski with a torn ACL?
For athletes concerned in sports activities the place the ACL, which stabilizes the knee joint, is extra prone to be injured, reconstructive surgical procedure and months of bodily remedy are sometimes beneficial earlier than a return to the game, says Dr. Anthony Petrosini, an orthopedic sports activities medication surgeon at Hackensack Meridian Jersey Shore College Medical Middle.
“If this was a highschool or school athlete, the advice could be to not compete with this damage,” says Petrosini, who didn’t deal with the Olympian. “However Lindsey Vonn is a one in all one case. If anyone goes to do it, it’s going to be her.”
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Vonn mentioned that regardless of her accidents, her knee is “steady” and her muscle tissue “are firing and reacting as they need to.” She mentioned she intends to compete with a brace.
“[A]s lengthy as I’ve an opportunity, I can’t lose hope. I can’t quit!” mentioned Vonn, a five-time Olympian who returned to snowboarding in 2024 after accidents pressured her into retirement greater than 5 years prior.
What causes ACL accidents?
ACL accidents are frequent in actions which require athletes to vary path, soar, or cease abruptly, resembling soccer, soccer, wrestling, and snowboarding. ACL accidents can vary from sprains and partial tears to finish ruptures.
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In instances the place somebody’s ACL is totally torn—like Vonn’s—competing most likely will not injury it extra, says Petrosini. However with out surgical procedure to right an ACL rupture, different constructions of the knee can be at larger threat of damage throughout high-impact actions resembling snowboarding, even when somebody wears a brace, he says.
How do you deal with a torn ACL?
Surgical procedure isn’t all the time required for individuals with torn or ruptured ACLs, Petrosini says. Relaxation and bodily remedy could also be enough for individuals with minor accidents or those that don’t interact in sports activities. However anybody who suffers an ACL damage ought to see a health care provider and evaluate the severity of their damage, potential dangers, and remedy choices, Petrosini says.
“The longer you go with out addressing the damage, the extra seemingly you’re to maintain injury to the cartilage,” he says, which might result in future issues resembling arthritis.
