After horror fall at the Olympics: US ski star Vonn “pretty nervous” before ninth operation

Since Vonn has to have a new cruciate ligament inserted into her knee, she expects to be out of action for another six to nine months. “There are still things that could change during surgery so we’ll have to wait and see how it goes, but I’ll keep you updated on my progress once I’m out of the operating room and recovering,” she wrote.

The former speed queen fell and was seriously injured at the Olympic Games in northern Italy in February. She required multiple operations due to a complex fracture of her left tibia. The four-time overall World Cup winner announced that she definitely wanted to ski again – but whether she would also do so in the World Cup remains to be seen.

“Basically we remove all the plates and screws”

Discussing the planned procedure for the surgery, she said: “Basically we’re removing all the plates and screws, basically all the implant material, so we can put in a new anterior cruciate ligament, because because of all the plates I still don’t have an anterior cruciate ligament.”

She waited nine months “so my bone could heal and we can repair the anterior cruciate ligament, and my bone has healed, which is great. Great news.” But now she has the cruciate ligament issue. The holes in her bones caused by the screws also still need to heal. But she has friends and family around her. “Everything will go great.”