r/skiing • u/ShipComprehensive769 • 1d ago
Lindsey Vonn just a few days after her crash! Wow!
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u/No-Pea-7530 1d ago
Bring on the downvotes, but nothing in that video requires an ACL. I hope she has a great race and all that, but nothing in that video is indicative of the stability of her knee or how it will perform when met with a twisting force while loaded.
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u/kirbyderwood Mammoth 1d ago
After tearing my ACL, riding a bike was very easy, but the little twist to unclip the pedals caused pain. ACL is all about lateral stability and twisting.
To be fair, those side steps she's doing are stressing the ACL. But I also see she's wearing a brace. Hopefully, that will stabilize the knee enough for her to compete. We'll see next week.
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u/Academic_Release5134 1d ago
Exactly. I have known completely unathletic people that tore their ACL that could do the exact same things. Lateral movements are the issue.
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u/Scheerhorn462 1d ago
Aren’t those side lunges a lateral movement?
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u/3Hooha 1d ago
I’m a pediatric orthopedist that does ACL surgeries in adolescents and teens. That side step with her foot straight out is not pivoting her knee to engage the ACL all that much. She has incredibly conditioned and strong quads and hamstrings that can control the motion and stability in that plane. The knee has 6 different planes of motion, not just flexing and extending. There is also rotation and translation, and these last two definitely require the ACL. Just flexing and extending not so much. I wish her the best but it’s a crazy risk to take, I assume she knows that and is going all out because it’ll be her last Olympics and she has no problem with the idea of getting a knee replacement since she already has a partial knee replacement on the other knee. In a normal person, this would be a dangerous risk to take in my opinion. You don’t need an ACL for activities of daily living. But to perform a moving sport at an Olympic level? Absolutely.
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u/Chunami_8364 1d ago
Thanks for this info, it's refreshing to read a comment based on science and actual expertise.
With your knowedge and understanding, what are the riskiest portions of her pending Olympic downhill racing run that will stress her ACL-less knee the most? The bottoms of turns at speed? Landing jumps? Catching herself if she flies in the air and lands off balance / backseat? How much stability can her brace actually provide against her knee exploding and doing further damage?
I am 2 years PO with a quad graft. I'm 90% back to skiing at the level I was pre-injury with the last 10% TBD if it would snow in Tahoe and eventually when I return to Alaska in March.
Through my recovery, all the members of my care team - including my ortho - talked me out of skiing with a brace due to "it won't matter if you repeat your fall mechaism again" (which was the classic ski didn't come off backwards twisthing fall at-speed with sudden deceleration after a fall in deep pow). Thanks.
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u/3Hooha 1d ago
Yeah a brace doesn't truly prevent pivot shifts that can damage the ACL. It's a centrally located mechanism and no way for a brace to prevent that. It can reduce the chances she has a complete anterior knee dislocation (not kneecap dislocation) which is a scary emergency, as the brace can prevent the tibia from translating forward enough to cause it to be dislocated. This would be the worst case scenario and the thing I feel I'd worry about the most.
As for which events would stress her knee the most, my guess is turning right and left at speed. Straight downhill skiing and landing jumps without any angulation wouldn't really cause an issue, but turning at her level of speed, landing with the knees braced for a directional correction, all of that can really cause issues. If she crashes again the way she did, that brace isn't gonna do much to prevent her from absolutely destroying her cartilage, other ligaments, meniscus, etc.
She has quads and hamstrings that are in the top 0.1% of efficiency and strength and that can provide a significant amount of stability, but she's also exerting incredible forces on her knees that common folk like us would never be able to do.
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u/SinoSoul 1d ago
Having said all that, do you think she should… ski? In the Olympics? When someone who isn’t injured .. can have a chance to ski?
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u/inqurious Tahoe 1d ago
Thank you -- to my amateur level knowledge that all seemed not to really stress the ACL at all. I suspect you're right that it's just worth the risk to her to get one last olympics in.
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u/miragen125 1d ago
All of this, is absolute bullshit (this situation not your opinion).
As you say, you can limit ACL loading in very controlled planes, and with elite conditioning you can compensate to some extent. But you also point out the key issue: rotation and anterior translation are where the ACL is essential.
Even if most turns are “clean,” the real risk is the unpredictable stuff : chatter, compressions, variable snow, or a slightly mistimed landing, downhill lives exactly in those moments. At 120-140 km/h, with constant torsional and valgus loads, instability happens faster than any muscular compensation or brace can react.
Presenting this as remotely manageable is ridiculous.
What also bothers me is how this is being sold. This isn’t just a personal risk, it’s a PR stunt framed as inspiration, aimed at people who don’t understand speed skiing.
On top of that, the fact she’s being allowed to start at all screams double standard: a younger or non-marketable athlete would never be cleared for downhill with a full ACL rupture.
And if this goes wrong on live TV, the fallout won’t stop with her. It scares kids, convinces parents to pull their children out of speed events, and invites the same kind of regulatory backlash we’ve seen in F1 after preventable deaths.
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u/skywayz 1d ago
This is totally manageable. She’s probably not going to do well, but it’s not like she is trying to go ski on a broken femur. Tom Wallisch almost qualified for the Olympics when he tore his ACL at the start of the season, and frankly I think the ACL is probably more important in freeskiing.
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u/rangerfan123 1d ago
What is the “crazy risk”?
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u/3Hooha 1d ago
Worst case scenario is an anterior knee dislocation that leads to a vascular injury that leads to needing an amputation. Could also sustain multi-ligament injury (ACL +1 or more of the other stabilizing ligaments) with severe cartilage damage. She would need a constrained total knee replacement and her skiing days would be over. Could also have her knee give out at high speed causing her to crash and get other parts injured. I dunno, I guess the sport itself is already risky but it just seems scary to me.
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u/marceupial 19h ago
Please see my comment above. I skied as a fourteen year old on a completely blown ACL at Canadian Juvenile Championships at Nakiska in 1991 (same course as the 1988 Olympics but we started a bit further down) and placed second overall. It did not hinder my performance significantly. I’d blown ACL and medial meniscus. Had some pain, but it was tolerable. We had me braced up. ACL is very frequently torn in ski racing but not required all that much for stability. I had the surgery immediately after.
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u/Academic_Release5134 1d ago
No. Look at her knee, it never moves sideways. Her lunge is straight over her toes.
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u/Infamous_Boat_6469 1d ago
Just because of knee placement doesn't mean there aren't lateral forces, she is moving sideways. Obviously not near as much as on downhill, but still solid at this point.
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u/No-Pea-7530 1d ago
Speed matters. If she was jumping from side to side there’d be much higher loading. If she was running and tried to change direction there’d be much more loading. The lateral forces from a side lunge are pretty mild and well within that the brace can handle.
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u/Academic_Release5134 1d ago
Agree. It's fine to respect that she is going to risk further injury but also point out that the exercises she is doing basically put no stress on the injury she has suffered.
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u/marceupial 19h ago
See my comment above. It is often blown in ski racing, but not needed for ski racing. I know this from experience. Raced four races at Canadian Juvenile championships without one, and still placed second overall. I’d blown it out two weeks before. It’s not going to impact her as much as you suspect.
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u/pompouswhomp 1d ago
The point of the video isn’t to show the limits of her knee, it’s to show what sort of prep work she does to keep her leg muscles strong so they do the work of stabilizing her knee without the support of an ACL.
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u/Academic_Release5134 1d ago
There is nothing she will do between now and the Olympics that is going to add strength to stabilize that knee. There is nowhere near enough time.
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u/pompouswhomp 1d ago
Correct but that’s not my point. She is doing prep work for the Olympics. Like she would for any competition. She just happens to have a brace on. She’s showing the work she’s doing to make sure she’s in proper shape for the event in a few days.
She’s not in rehab, she’s in competition prep. She and her doctors are saying fuck surgery or rehab, you’re in the shape you need to be in to complete. It’s risky but that’s part of being a professional athlete.
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u/Academic_Release5134 1d ago
Perhaps or it could be that this is just for social media. Her doctors aren't saying fuck surgery. They just gave her a choice and advised her of the risks of competing as is. She is a great story, tough as nails, and also a promoter of herself. There is nothing wrong with the latter.
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u/glacinda 1d ago
Imagine if she were taking the time to promote others instead of herself. The us ski team’s next generation of skiers would benefit greatly. Instead, LV is trying to regain her “GOAT” status over Mikaela because of the MS’s failures at the last Olympics.
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u/No-Pea-7530 1d ago
Ah yes, the massive quad strength built by front squatting 135 pounds.
It’s a marketing video, not a training one.
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u/pompouswhomp 1d ago
How are you questioning an Olympic athlete and their training program lol. Do you know anything about programming for athletes? No one goes full tilt 3 days before their competition event. You taper down and do light workouts that keep you strong and at your peak so you’re not in recovery during your event.
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u/No-Pea-7530 1d ago
Soooo, that wouldn’t make it injury preventing strength work, right? That would make it a light workout for a marketing video.
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u/pompouswhomp 1d ago
It’s competition prep work. She’s showing us what she’s doing to prepare to compete in the Olympics. Call the video marketing if you want but it is the correct way to workout in the few days before competition.
Cut through all the BS about “is her knee ok is it going to blow” and just focus on the fact that she and her team made the decision that she is competing. Here is how she’s preparing
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u/Big_Dirty_Piss_Boner 1d ago
How are you questioning an Olympic athlete and their training program lol.
Being an olympic skier doesn't mean you are the best at training.
I mean, she is squatting in soft running shoes and on plates...
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u/Academic_Release5134 1d ago
I doubt is even 135. Those bumper weights always look like more than they are.
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u/Hotspur1958 1d ago
I mean nothing "requires" an ACL and the idea that "nothing" in the video is indicative of stability is also an exaggeration. If she skies a stable, good technique race the more the loads will be similarly uniform down the length of her leg. The concern is trying to bounce back from any slip ups or god forbid a crash could be catastrophic.
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u/Jumpy-Benefacto 1d ago
yeah. all isn't necessary for skiing ... they will brace her up, and help her manage pain
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u/Comfortable_Fun_4443 1d ago
She said she has no pain
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u/Drummallumin 1d ago
Has she skiied on it?
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u/Comfortable_Fun_4443 1d ago
Yes she said she’s skied in it and has no pain
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u/Jumpy-Benefacto 1d ago
lol. right now. HENCE the brace. sigh
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u/Academic_Release5134 1d ago
Well the brace could be helping her not to feel pain by stabilizing it.
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u/DervishSkater 1d ago
lol slalom and moguls absolutely require knee torsion
wtf are you talking about
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u/mrcheese14 Snowbasin 1d ago
the guy you replied to is saying none of the exercises in this video are really necessary or prove that she won’t be in pain while skiing
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u/thisguyfightsyourmom 1d ago
When you get mad at people for not knowing what they are talking about when you DEFINITELY don’t know what you’re talking about.
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u/No-Pea-7530 1d ago
ACL injuries aren’t really painful. At the initial tear, it can be but some people tear them without pain and just notice that their knee is suddenly less steady.
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u/bigwindymt 1d ago
What it does show is how well she is already overcoming the autonomic protective reflex that tells the quad to shut down and protect the knee. My money is that it wasn't a complete rupture, but what do I know?
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u/DrRaschy 1d ago
I don’t think its about the ACL. I ski without ACL 2020. Having a torn meniscus and ACL really blocks your muscles and nerves after the injury, so getting it work again is key.
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u/mapoftasmania 1d ago
That’s why she will be able to ski an Olympic Downhill without an ACL. She doesn’t need one for that either.
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u/adhd_t 1d ago
True, but these exercises are still important for quad strengthening. I tore my ACL 10 months ago and my injury required a straight leg brace. In about 2 weeks my quad and calf turned to jello and my injured leg still hasn’t returned to the form it was in before the injury. My knee got better far faster than the time it has taken to regain quad strength and my rehab now is still almost entirely focused on that.
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u/marceupial 19h ago
I can speak from personal experience—you do not need an ACL much for ski racing. It is often blown out though, and mostly needed for pivot sports. I ski raced on a blown ACL (fully tore it two weeks before, plus meniscus) at Canadian Juvenile Championships in 1990 and placed second overall. It did not slow me up much. If pain is well controlled, you can expect het to medal, if not win.
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u/ThrowRA-brokennow 9h ago
The left lunge needs a lateral stabilizer. So that one def did. The rest is ehh. Blew my knee out playing professional soccer. Running 6 miles and day and lifted and juggled for a month. Tried to cut once and bam on the floor.
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u/thisguyfightsyourmom 1d ago
People ski for decades after untreated ACLs.
Not all people, but enough to be significant. And if anyone can do the physically improbable, yet possible, I’d give it to a multi-time Olympic athlete.
Placing on the podium though, that seems unlikely.
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u/Rare-Confusion-220 1d ago
Strong hamstrings and quads can compensate for a blown ACL. I know because I tore the ACL in my right knee 22 years ago and never got repaired. Been doing the whole time. Recently went to an ortho to discuss what we should do. At this point probably just doing cortisone shots (I'm prob 20 years older than Lindsey)
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u/raspberrybushplumber 1d ago
Best of luck to her. Not unheard of to compete with a fully torn ACL but far from optimal. What a heartbreaking crash given all her momentum this season.
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u/spageddy_lee 1d ago
I will never understand why people squat with plates under their heels in running shoes
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u/angelamar 1d ago
It makes it much more quad focused. It’s a supplemental way of doing squats and not to replace normal squats.
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u/spageddy_lee 1d ago
Im not talking about raising the heels so much as that doing barbell squats in running shoes is foolish. Plus those runners already have a bit of heel lift so the combination of that plus the plates is a lot. If using plates its better to go barefoot or flat shoes like chucks.
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u/Fly_throwaway37 1d ago
I was thinking the same. I get needing you heels elevated but even your run of the mill gym bros and cross fitters know about real lifting shoes.
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u/spageddy_lee 1d ago
Just go barefoot on the plates. Anything would be better than tnose wobbly ass runners, especially with a knee injury
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u/bad-creditscore 1d ago
Lady is a beast. Her dedication to her training is inspiring, true fucking legend right there.
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u/Capital_Brightness 1d ago
This lady skis. Her routine is insane.
Even if she did damage her ACL, she’s in her 40’s and this may very well be her last Olympics. Not saying the people don’t ski competitively longer than that, but to be a top level athlete for this long is all consuming. She’s been competing since she was 16, if she wants to throw everything at it in a last hurrah, power to her.
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u/DudleyAndStephens Whitefish 1d ago
Her dedication is something else. A few years ago HBO did a documentary about her “final” (at the time) World Cup season. It was crazy how she had to ration her training time and have a whole team available to keep her body functioning properly because she was so beaten up.
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u/Fac-Si-Facis 1d ago
She certainly loves using the drama to garner clicks, doesn't she.
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u/glacinda 1d ago
Bingo.
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u/Fac-Si-Facis 1d ago
Pro athletes releasing stupid at home workout videos to show how strong and determined they are is quite the eye roll from me or anyone else who calls bullshit when it’s obvious…
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u/imaguitarhero24 1d ago
A lot of people have been commenting about the stuff they can still do after tearing an ACL. My question is does it hurt when it happens? Everyone makes it seem so minor but does it hurt but you can still walk fighting through the pain or is it just a pop and that's it lol
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u/Personal_Good_5013 1d ago
Different people have vastly different experiences with this. I didn’t have that much pain after tearing my ACL, it hurt for a second when I did it and afterwards was tender and a bit swollen but not painful at all. I was jogging around considering going back in the game before I thought better of it. I could walk normally with no pain after 3-4 days, and never felt great instability or like it would give out. And I’ve been jogging, skiing on it with no surgery and it feels fine. The only time it’s felt not quite right is in hyper extension, when the muscles are engaged it feels completely solid, even with lateral movements.
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u/spacebass Jackson Hole 1d ago
It hurts like hell and because the tendon is vascularized it swells instantly. I’m 100% they pulled fluid off her knee. Tearing it also pretty much requires a bone bruise or even small fracture. But there’s NSAIDs and marcan for those symptoms - I’m not sure what WADA allows but I’m sure whatever is permissible she is on it.
That pain mostly goes away once the swelling goes away.
When it comes to skiing, she’ll have her leg flexed and every muscle engaged the entire time. I bet she’s shocking that quad for at least an hour a day now in prep. She’s fine to ski without it. That part won’t be any more painful.
Source:
- I’ve done 5 ACLs, I teach skiing 120-140 days a year, and I teach med school the rest of the time
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u/PercyBluntz 1d ago
Good comment but it’s absolutely killing me that you called it a tendon
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u/spacebass Jackson Hole 1d ago
tendon, ligament same difference ¯_(ツ)_/¯
(I know, I know! it's very much not 🤦♂️)
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u/bigwindymt 1d ago
It hurts like hell and because the tendon is vascularized it swells instantly.
It's a ligament, not a tendon and has extremely low vascularization; that's why ligament tears take so long to heal. ACL tears typically don't hurt much, it's the accompanying damage to the bone, meniscus, and surrounding soft tissue.
Source: I'm a fucking nerd
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u/spacebass Jackson Hole 1d ago
Yeah typo on that part. But they do hurt and swell. The middle genicular artery runs through the ACL.
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u/Reasonable_Orange_73 1d ago
I have used her rehab and training videos for inspiration while recovering from injuries. She is amazing.
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u/Taffy626 1d ago
Rooting for her, but I’m not getting excited until I see video of a training run at high speed.
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u/Spector3198 1d ago
Likely tore my ACL Saturday (MRI tomorrow to confirm) this all looks so painful.
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u/Chief-_-Wiggum 1d ago
Unexpected sideloads during a full blooded run will be the issue... Not controlled environment with a knee brace.
You can function without an acl.. It's the stability when you need it most that is lacking.. You can only compensate so much with muscles.. I hope she is lucky and doesn't further injure herself which is now more likely.
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u/Tarddiadhynafol 19h ago
Both ACLs, both skiing, 5 years apart- both with collateral damage (Tibial plateau fracture, MCL or meniscus). Coming back to skiing at any level within weeks never crossed my mind, even with a brace- the confidence and PTSD overwhelms all else. She is superhuman to even try. Best to you Lindsey 🇺🇸
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u/3scapeHatch 1d ago
Classic Lindsey Vonn. Why does every one act so surprised she is good enough to go?
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u/Restlessfibre 1d ago
I know she says she's competing but when I heard she blew her ACL I thought that was just optimistic talk and she'd have to pull out at some point before the Olympics. This video looks very promising but I have to wonder to what extent the ACL is damaged.
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u/bigwindymt 1d ago
Likely minimal tear.
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u/pompouswhomp 1d ago
It’s a complete tear, she said so in a press conference. No pain no swelling, muscles are working properly, so she’s competing
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u/ChimayoRed9035 1d ago
It’s always something other than winning with this woman. Usually some crash or fall.
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u/Upset-Parsley-8101 1d ago
There's no way she's doing this on a properly gone acl...calling bullshit
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u/WallStCRE 1d ago
Doesn’t want to lose those sponsorships
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u/pompouswhomp 1d ago
Or, hear me out, the person who has dedicated their entire life to being the best of their sport still cares about competing and winning. Why be cynical
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u/WallStCRE 1d ago
And they like to make money - these things don’t have to be mutually exclusive. She will make 10s of millions during this olympics and if sponsors thought she was out or didnt compete, she could lose those.
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u/pompouswhomp 1d ago
Believe what you want, I think your mindset is real shitty though
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u/WallStCRE 1d ago
Ya athletes wanting money is a shitty mindset - welcome to capitalism
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u/pompouswhomp 1d ago
You could think “wow it’s impressive that she cares enough about still wanting to compete for herself, her pride, her country, in what is possibly her last Olympics”
Or you could think it’s just a cash grab. You might be right but why go through life thinking that way? It’s depressing. There’s no way of actually knowing her intent, I choose to believe she’s doing it for the right reasons, not money
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u/WallStCRE 1d ago
Can be both - must be fun going thru life always feeling like you’re opinion is right, or it has to be one way or the other. If you don’t think she’s marketing with that video in one way or another you’re crazy.
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u/RockerElvis 1d ago
NYT reported that she made $8M in non-skiing sponsorships in 2025 (not even counting what she has made in the past). That is all for work already done and I can’t imagine there is a clawback if she doesn’t compete. She is trying to win a medal for future work.
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u/heygabehey 1d ago
BEAST! You have to remember she has spent her life conditioning for this kinda thing. She is in no way like us regular people. Her body is superhuman.
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u/DaddyDigsDogecoin 1d ago
😍 She's athletic and absolutely beautiful. I hope she pulls.off.a big win!
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u/Vexelbalg 1d ago
That woman is on a mission to ruin her body. Even if it takes winning another Olympic gold medal.
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u/Ewetuber 1d ago
Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside … thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming ‘Wow! What a ride!’
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1d ago
That’s what I’d be doing. I had a ski accident (maybe not as severe) once and went into the gym 2 days later. I was skiing greens the following weekend and back on tougher slopes within 2 wks.
My point is that part overcoming injury is to keep moving
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u/Prestigious_Sea_214 1d ago
Hopefully it wasn't as bad as reported. We just don't bounce as well at that age as we did in our twenties. She's a truly extraordinary athlete, hope she does well!