Lindsey Vonn Reveals She's Preparing to Undergo Major Surgery

Lindsey Vonn has had issues with her knee for a long time.

By Brian Jones

Lindsey Vonn is getting ready to have surgery again. The former Olympic skier revealed in an Instagram Q&A that she was going to have knee replacement surgery when asked what was her most recent procedure. Since announcing her retirement in 2019, Vonn has had multiple knee surgeries. 

"I recently did a prep surgery for a knee replacement," Vonn replied while sharing a photo of her knee wrapped in a surgical dressing on her Instagram Story, per PEOPLE. "Hope to have the next surgery this spring." Vonn also shared a video of her doing a knee exercise after a fan asked for advice on what to do after having anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) surgery. The 38-year-old said to work on the range of motion by doing full flexion and extension daily. 

In July, Vonn revealed she was undergoing another surgery on her knee. She has had knee problems since undergoing an operation in 2019 to repair a later collateral ligament (LCL). "I've been dealing with all the damage from my ski racing career and have been trying to manage the pain as best I can," she wrote in an Instagram post at the time. "This surgery is hopefully a big step to help me long term. We still have work to do, and most likely another surgery but I hope this will help me for a bit."

In her skiing career, Vonn won 82 World Cup races, an all-time record until January when Mikaela Shiffrin surpassed the mark. Vonn has won four World Cup overall championships, third among female skiers to Shiffrin and Annemarie Moser-Pröll. In her Olympic career, Vonn won a gold medal at the 2010 games in Vancouver. She then won a bronze medal in the same games and another bronze in the 2018 games in Pyeongchang. 

In January, Vonn became the first woman to ski the Steif in Kitzbühel, Austria."Only when you ski the Streif are you a real downhiller," Vonn said, per Outside. "The Streif is the pinnacle of all downhills, the most difficult course in the world. Nobody believed I could do it. After all my injuries, to now get the once-in-a-lifetime chance to kick out of the starting gate here and fulfill my dream is incredible. I've always had respect for the men that raced down the Streif, but I have even more respect now because it's one thing to go down it and another thing to ski to win; and now I can fully understand what that means. It has given me a greater perspective on how truly amazing these men are."

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