Scott Detrow (2:53)

It's Consider this from npr. For the skiing star Lindsey Vonn, the Olympic downhill race in February was supposed to be the pinnacle of an extraordinary career. Most people wouldn't want to show their face again in public, but not Lindsey Vonn. NPR's Becky Sullivan sat down with her and has the story.

Becky Sullivan (3:11)

I met Lindsey Vonn at a hotel in New York last week. She was fully TV ready, makeup and hair, nice outfit. The gray crutches, though, were hard to miss.

Lindsey Vonn (3:20)

I'm not going to be cruising around Central park anytime soon, but at least I'm, you know, kind of in some

Becky Sullivan (3:26)

way out and about seeing her now. It's hard to believe that a few months ago she was in arguably the best shape of her life.

Sports Commentator (3:33)

Lindsay Vaughn. Now, he's absolutely flying.

Becky Sullivan (3:36)

Vaughn was the first American woman to win the Olympic downhill gold, the biggest star in skiing. But she retired in 2019. So to stage a comeback last winter at 41, after a knee replacement, it seemed impossible. Yet here she was, oldest winner of

Sports Commentator (3:52)

a World cup race. Fon is there. Unbelievable. Incredible.

Lindsey Vonn (3:58)

You know, my age didn't mean that I had somehow lost the ability to ski fast, you know, and that was just a really nice feeling. It felt good to. To be back on top again.

Becky Sullivan (4:09)

She won her first race in December, then another. But her goal was always the Olympics. The women's events this year were in Cortina d', Ampezzo, an iconic stop on the World cup circuit, where Von had won a dozen times in her career. But just over a week before the Olympics, disaster struck. At a race in Switzerland, Von spun out of control off a jump and tore a ligament in her knee.

Lindsey Vonn (4:30)

When they told me I tore my acl, I was shocked, but also, like, I didn't miss a beat. I didn't come all this way to just, you know, stop trying.

Becky Sullivan (4:41)

For those next nine days, she got back to work. Her legs soon felt stable. It felt strong. Meanwhile, the outside world had started to doubt her once again. This whole Lindsey Vonn situation feels like a publicity stunt.

NPR Sponsor Announcer (4:52)

The elephant in the room is she's 41. I think this is a monumentally difficult and also dangerous task for her to try to do.

Becky Sullivan (5:01)

And I feel like it was like the biggest question in sports media those nine days was like, will she do it? Should she do it? Is it smart? Is it crazy? Is it doable? Is it possible? You know, all the above. Cut to Cortina. It was a beautiful sunny day, the morning of the Olympic downhill race. I was standing at the finish line. All of us reporters, athletes, TV announcers, and a grandstand full of fans held our breath as Vaughn stepped into the start house. Then, 13 seconds into her run, everything went wrong.

Sports Commentator (5:33)

Oh, no. Father's gone.

Becky Sullivan (5:36)

She hooked a gate with her right arm, which spun her body around into the Air. She hit the snow and tumbled down the slope. When she finally came to a stop, she couldn't move. She was in terrible pain. She acknowledges now that the torn ACL did play a role in what happened.

Lindsey Vonn (5:52)

Because of my acl, I couldn't rely on certain aspects of my skiing that I normally would. And so I was trying to make a calculated plan on where I could make up time. And that second gate or third gate was a place that I knew I could ski better.

Becky Sullivan (6:08)

But missing the mark by a few inches was all it took to end her Olympic dream. We all watched, stunned, as a helicopter carried her off the mountain.

Sports Commentator (6:16)

We love Lindsay. Feel strong. You will be missed.

Becky Sullivan (6:22)

Like all ski racers, Lindsey Vonn is no stranger to injury. But this was the most extreme she's ever faced. She had a complex fracture in her left leg with dangerous complications that could have led to amputation. And she broke her right ankle, too. She needed multiple emergency surgeries in the Italian ICU before she could be flown

Lindsey Vonn (6:40)

home to the U.S. the pain was almost unbearable. But I felt like there were mental low points that were much worse. The amount of time in a wheelchair and just being unable to do really anything without someone taking care of me. I am a very independent person and I don't want to burden anybody. And I felt like I was a constant burden.

Becky Sullivan (7:05)

It's normal for anyone, even elite athletes, to go quiet when they experience a severe injury to recover in private. Lindsey Vonn, though, has never been normal. Starting that week in the hospital in Italy, she decided to broadcast her ordeal on social media.

Lindsey Vonn (7:19)

Hey, guys, just wanted to give you a little update.

Becky Sullivan (7:22)

There were the selfies in her Italian hospital hospital bed, the montage of her medevac flight back to the U.S. of her six hour surgery in Colorado, the X rays, the PT, a new motorized scooter. And in all of it, she wasn't shy about showing her busted leg, sometimes with bandages or a sock, hiding the long healing scars. But not always.

Lindsey Vonn (7:43)

Life is life, and we have to take the punches as they come. So I'm gonna do the best I can with this one. It really knocked me down, but I'm like, rocky, I'll just keep getting back up.

Becky Sullivan (7:55)

I found it striking how public she's been about it all. She told me she needed it, actually because she felt so isolated.

Lindsey Vonn (8:02)

I thought it was some of, like, the most introspective thought and, like, posting that I've ever done. And I thought it was actually really therapeutic for me because I feel like I had so many emotions that I wanted to tell people and, and it was really the only way for me to do that.

Becky Sullivan (8:21)

Now she's dipping her toe back into the real world. First, a photo shoot for Vanity Fair.

Lindsey Vonn (8:26)

I had been in sweatpants with no makeup for so long, and I finally felt like more feminine. And, you know, I'm like, okay, I'm still here.

Becky Sullivan (8:35)

Then came this trip to New York for an educational campaign called Antibodies for Anybody for the Pharma Company and Vivid. She signed that deal before her crash, but she says she never seriously considered backing out. In fact, Vaughn says she has no regrets at all.

Lindsey Vonn (8:49)

My crashes, my obstacles, everything that I face in my life has always made me a better person and led me down a different path that, you know, I wouldn't be where I am right now without it. Despite everything, I'm still really happy with my life.

Becky Sullivan (9:04)

She does still have a long way to go. About a million more hours of rehab, plus another surgery this fall, then another to finally address that torn acl. Yet she won't rule out a return to the ski slope one day, if only to get some closure.

Lindsey Vonn (9:19)

I never got even a chance to say goodbye to anyone. I saw my teammates in the start, and then I was whisked away in a chopper and I never saw anyone again, not even for racing. But just as like a human being to say, you know, this was fun. I love you guys.

Becky Sullivan (9:36)

That might take her a little while. But as she says, she's not one to hide her story, so she jokes. We'll probably hear about it on Instagram. Becky Sullivan in PR News New York.

Scott Detrow (9:48)

This episode was produced by Chad Campbell and Karen Zamora. It was edited by Russell Lewis and Courtney Dorning. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun. And before we go, a quick thank you to our Consider THIS plus listeners who support the show. Your contribution makes it possible for NPR journalists around the world to do their jobs. Supporters also get to hear every episode in even less time and with no sponsor messages. Learn more at plus.NPR.org. It's Consider this from npr. I'm Scott Detrow.

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