CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Lindsey Vonn has left no doubt about the state of her knee after a sports doctor questioned the extent of her injury ahead of Sunday's Olympic downhill.
In an exchange on social media site X, sports medicine doctor Brian Sutterer suggested Vonn's anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear might not be as fresh as people were assuming, without diminishing her achievement.
"What was the state of her ACL before the crash last week?," he asked. "What she is doing now would not be nearly as surprising in an elite athlete whose knee was already functioning like the ACL was torn at baseline.
"When you hear stories about 'So and so played for years on a torn ACL', that's chronic, meaning the body has time to adapt and retrain muscles to support the knee."
Vonn, the current leader of the World Cup downhill standings and a double winner this season at 41 years of age, has said she "completely ruptured" her ACL last week and replied to the comments:
"Lol thanks doc. My ACL was fully functioning until last Friday. Just because it seems impossible to you doesn't mean it's not possible. And yes, my ACL is 100% ruptured. Not 80% or 50%. It's 100% gone."
The U.S. Alpine ski great injured her left knee in a downhill crash in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, but has vowed to race Sunday's downhill with a brace on her knee. She has posted video of her working out, doing squats and box jumps.
Vonn took part in training on Friday, recording the 11th-fastest time without obvious difficulty, and will train again on Saturday.
"Course looks good today, snow is a lot more firm. Should run quite a bit faster," she said on social media.
Coach Aksel Lund Svindal, a double Olympic gold medallist for Norway, has predicted Vonn could yet win a medal.
She has a long injury history, including surgery on both knees, and began her comeback in 2024 after nearly six years out and following partial knee replacement surgery.
The American first suffered an ACL injury in 2007 and missed the Sochi 2014 Games after another partial tear to the right knee.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
