Lindsey Vonn breaks arm in Colorado training crash
4-time overall World Cup champion wipeout Thursday, had surgery in Vail
Lindsey Vonn broke her arm during a crash in training in Colorado and underwent surgery. The four-time overall World Cup champion has been battered by injuries in recent years and hopes to return to skiing "as soon as possible."
She said on Facebook the wipeout happened on Copper Mountain on Thursday and she had surgery that night in Vail. She posted X-ray pictures of her right arm on her social media accounts.
It's the latest setback for Vonn, who had three significant breaks near her knee joint in a super-G crash in Andorra last March.
The 32-year-old Vonn was tentatively hoping to be back in time for the races in Lake Louise, Alta., in early December.
Vonn sustained three significant breaks near her knee joint during a super-G crash in Andorra late last February. She tried to keep skiing, only to end her season a few days later. At the time, she was thinking long term — toward the 2017 world championships in St. Moritz, Switzerland, and the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea.
The 32-year-old Vonn has been steadily healing and was tentatively hoping to be back for the World Cup races in Lake Louise, Alta., in early December. There's no timetable for her return after her latest crash.
Over the years, Vonn's list of injuries has been long. She hurt her knee in training and missed two races at the 2007 worlds. She also raced with a severely bruised shin at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics when she won the downhill. But she couldn't defend her crown four years later in Sochi because of a serious knee injury.
She broke her left ankle in New Zealand during training camp before last season. In November 2015, Vonn needed stitches in her right thumb after trying to break up a fight between her dogs over a Frisbee.
Through all the adversity, Vonn became the winningest female World Cup racer with 76 victories. She has closed the gap on the career mark of 86 victories by Ingemar Stenmark of Sweden.
This fall, Vonn has made the rounds promoting her new book, Strong is the New Beautiful, which provides tips in such areas as strength, fitness, food and attitude.