Consider This from NPR - Skier Lindsey Vonn won't back down

Episode Date: May 8, 2026

Skiing star Lindsey Vonn was on the cusp of capping off one of the most remarkable career comebacks the Olympics has ever seen. Then it all changed. It had been six years since she stepped away from competitive skiing due to injuries and made her triumphant return at the 2026 Winter Olympics. But then it came all tumbling down. Millions watched as the 41-year-old had the worst crash of her career. Most people wouldn't want to show their face in public again — not Lindsey Vonn.NPR's Becky Sullivan sat down with her and shares her story. For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at [e-mail]. This episode was produced by Chad Campbell and Karen Zamora.It was edited by Russell Lewis and Courtney Dorning.Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

It's consider this where every day we go deep on one big news story. Today, the agony of defeat and the long road back. It started early this year. As the 2026 Winter Olympics approach, there was one athlete everyone was waiting to see, Lindsey Vaughn. The skiing star was on the cusp of capping off one of the most remarkable career comebacks ever after a five-year retirement and a knee replacement. But even before the games began, Vaughn crashed and injured her.

her knee. Where is Vaughn? Where is Vaughn? Oh, Von is in the netting. Oh, my goodness, me! Lindsay Vaughn has crashed out. I completely ruptured my ACL. I know what my chances were before the crash, and I know my chances aren't the same as it stands today, but I know there's still a chance. And as long as there's a chance, I will try. And so she did. Millions watched on February 8th as the 41-year-old started her race on the slope at Cortina. Here we go with Lindsay Vaughn in this amazing comeback. In just 13 seconds into her downhill run, everything changed. Oh no! Right at the top of the challenge, Lindsay Vaughn smashes in the opening traverse and the Olympic dream is over.

Her arm clipped a gate, center body flying and tumbling down the hill. She landed hard. Her leg was badly broken. Medical assistance is there for Vaughn, but she's screaming, screaming with pain. Consider this. While some might want to lay low after a setback like that, America's most famous downhill skier has never been one to back down. From NPR, I'm Scott Detrow. It's Consider This from NPR.

For the skiing star Lindsay Vaughn, the Olympic downhill race in February was supposed to be the pinnacle of an extraordinary career. Most people wouldn't want to show their face again in public, but not. Lindsey Vaughn. And P.R.'s Becky Sullivan sat down with her and has the story. I met Lindsay Vaughn at a hotel in New York last week. She was fully TV ready, makeup and hair, nice outfit. The gray crutches, though, were hard to miss. I'm not going to be cruising around Central Park anytime soon,

but at least I'm, you know, kind of in some way out and about. Seeing her now, it's hard to believe that a few months ago, she was in arguably the best shape of the life. Lindsay Vaughn now! He's absolutely flying! Vaughn was the first American woman to win the Olympic downhill gold, the biggest star in skiing, but she retired in 2019. So to stage a comeback last winter at 41 after a knee replacement, it seemed impossible. Yet here she was. Oldest winner of a World Cup race, Vaughn is there.

Unbelievable, incredible. You know, my age didn't mean that I had somehow lost the ability to ski fast, you know, and that was just a really nice feeling. It felt good to be back on top again. She won her first race in December, then another, but her goal was always the Olympics. The women's events this year were in Cortina Dampetto, an iconic stop on the World Cup circuit, where Vaughn had won a dozen times in her career. But just over a week before the Olympics, disaster struck. At a race in Switzerland, Vaughn spun out of control off a jump and tore a ligament in her knee.

When they told me I tore my ACL, I was shocked, but also, like I didn't miss it. miss a beat. I didn't come all this way to just, you know, stop trying. For those next nine days, she got back to work. Her leg soon felt stable, it felt strong. Meanwhile, the outside world had started to doubt her once again. This whole Lindsey Vaughn situation feels like a publicity style. The elephant in the room is she's 41. I think this is a monumentally difficult and also dangerous task for her to try to do. And I feel like it was like the biggest question in sports media those nine days was like, will she do it? Should she do it? Is it smart? Is it crazy? Is it doable? Is it possible? You know? I'll be above. Cut to Cortina. It was a beautiful sunny day the morning of the

Olympic downhill race. I was standing at the finish line. All of us, reporters, athletes, TV announcers, and a grandstand full of fans held our breath as Vaughn stepped into the start house. Then 13 seconds into her run, everything went wrong. Oh, no! Father's gone! She hooked a gate with her right arm, which spun her body around into the air. She hit the snow and tumbled down the slope. When she finally came to a stop, she couldn't move. She was in terrible pain.

She acknowledges now that the torn ACL did play a role in what happened. Because of my ACL, I couldn't rely on certain aspects of my skiing that I normally would. And so I was trying to make it calculated plan on where I could make up time. and that second gate or third gate was a place that I knew I could ski better. But missing the mark by a few inches was all it took to end her Olympic dream. We all watched stunned as a helicopter carried her off the mountain. We love the, Lindsay. Feels strong.

You will be missed. Like all ski racers, Lindsay Vaughn is no stranger to injury. But this was the most extreme she's ever faced. She had a complex fracture on her left leg with dangerous complications that could have led to amputation. and she broke her right ankle too. She needed multiple emergency surgeries in the Italian ICU before she could be flown home to the U.S. The pain was almost unbearable,

but I felt like there were mental low points that were much worse. The amount of time in a wheelchair and just being unable to do really anything without someone taking care of me, I am a very independent person, and I don't want to burden anybody. and I felt like I was a constant burden. It's normal for anyone, even elite athletes,

to go quiet when they experience a severe injury, to recover in private. Lindsay Vaughn, though, has never been normal. Starting that week in the hospital in Italy, she decided to broadcast her ordeal on social media. Hey, guys. I just wanted to give you a little update. There were the selfies in her Italian hospital bed, the montage of her Medevac flight back to the U.S.

of her six-hour surgery in Colorado, the x-rays, the PT, a new, motorized scooter. And in all of it, she wasn't shy about showing her busted leg, sometimes with bandages or a sock hiding the long, healing scars, but not always. Life is life, and we have to take the punches as they come. So I'm going to do the best I can with this one. It really knocked me down. But I'm like Rocky. I'll just keep getting back up. I found it striking how public she's been about it all. She told me she needed it, actually, because she felt so isolated.

I thought it was some of, like, the most introspective thought and, like, posting that I've ever done. And I thought it was actually really therapeutic for me because I feel like I had so many emotions that I wanted to tell people. And it was really the only way for me to do that. Now she's dipping her toe back into the real world. First, a photo shoot for Vanity Fair. I had been in sweatpants with no makeup for so. long and I finally felt like more feminine and, you know, I'm like, okay, I'm still here. Then came this trip to New York for an educational campaign called Antibodies for

Anybody for the pharma company in Vivid. She signed that deal before her crash, but she says she never seriously considered backing out. In fact, Vaughn says she has no regrets at all. My crashes, my obstacles, everything that I face in my life has always made me a better person and led me down a different path that, you know, I wouldn't be where I'd, I am right now without it. Despite everything, I'm still really happy with my life.

She does still have a long way to go, about a million more hours of rehab, plus another surgery this fall than another to finally address that torn ACL. Yet she won't rule out a return to the ski slope one day, if only to get some closure. I never got even a chance to say goodbye to anyone. I saw my teammates in the start, and then I was whisked away in a shopper, and I never saw anyone again. Not even for racing, but just as like a human being to say, you know, this was fun. I love you guys. That might take her a little while, but as she says, she's not one to hide her story. So she jokes, we'll probably hear about it on Instagram. Becky Sullivan and Pierre News,

New York. This episode was produced by Chad Campbell and Karen Zamora. It was edited by Russell Lewis and Courtney Dorney. Our executive producer is Sammy Yenigot. And before we go, a quick thank you to our Consider This Plus listeners who support the show. Your contribution makes it possible for NPR journalists around the world to do their jobs. Supporters also get to hear every episode in even less time and with no sponsor messages. Learn more at plus.npr.npr.org. It's Consider This from NPR. I'm Scott Detrow.