The 2010 Olympic downhill champion mentioned she has “yet one more surgical procedure left to take out the metallic and to exchange my [anterior cruciate ligament] ACL” after which a prolonged interval of recuperation.
“As soon as I get my ACL mounted, then that is one other six months, so I’ve at the least a yr and a half forward of me earlier than I might actually be again to 100%, even simply coaching within the gymnasium,” she added.
Vonn was racing on the Olympics in Cortina 9 days after rupturing ligaments in her left knee when she struck a gate and crashed 13 seconds into her downhill run.
She was airlifted off the piste and recognized with a fancy tibia fracture in her left leg.
“I am nonetheless in survival mode. I simply wish to get via this part and have the ability to assess the place I’m in my life,” mentioned Vonn, who gained her two world titles in 2009.
“I do not wish to decide now as a result of I believe that will be rash and possibly too emotional and I do not wish to make a mistake.”
Vonn, who has gained 84 World Cup races and is second within the all-time ladies’s listing behind fellow American Mikaela Shiffrin, suffered quite a lot of severe leg accidents earlier than initially retiring from the game in 2019.
After having a partial proper knee substitute, she introduced her shock return in 2024.
Vonn had been tipped to win a medal at her fifth and ultimate Olympics, and competed regardless of struggling the ACL harm in Switzerland within the final World Cup race earlier than the Video games.
She described the harm on the Video games as “a lot totally different” to any of her earlier ones when it comes to “the severity of the harm and understanding that I might have misplaced my leg and the way unhealthy issues had been”.
She added: “I can take care of loads of ache, however this was so excessive. It is not even been within the universe of ache as what I’ve had earlier than.”