Despite tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee in early 2013, Vonn was determined to compete at Sochi and was set to be one of the star names as she defended her downhill Olympic gold.
But she aggravated the injury while skiing in France last month and was forced to admit defeat.
I did everything I possibly could to somehow get strong enough to overcome having no ACL but the reality has sunk in that my knee is just too unstable to compete at this level. I’m having surgery soon so that I can be ready for the World Championships at home in Vail next February [2015].
Advertisement
“On a positive note, this means there will be an additional spot so that one of my teammates can go for gold.
“Thank you all so much for all of the love and support. I will be cheering for all of the Olympians and especially team USA!”
US skiing star Lindsey Vonn forced to pull out of Winter Olympics
AMERICAN SKIIER LINDSEY Vonn has withdrawn from the Winter Olympics after failing to recover from a knee injury.
“I am devastated to announce that I will not be able to compete in Sochi,” the 29-year-old confirmed on Facebook today.
Despite tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee in early 2013, Vonn was determined to compete at Sochi and was set to be one of the star names as she defended her downhill Olympic gold.
But she aggravated the injury while skiing in France last month and was forced to admit defeat.
“On a positive note, this means there will be an additional spot so that one of my teammates can go for gold.
“Thank you all so much for all of the love and support. I will be cheering for all of the Olympians and especially team USA!”
Ulster take heed of Manchester United’s cautionary cup tale
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Alpine Skiing lindsey vonn Skiing Sochi 2014 Team USA winter olympics 2014