Skiing star Lindsey Vonn has taken to social media to share a gut-wrenching update after her shocking crash at the Winter Olympics. The American athlete suffered a horrific fall during the Women’s downhill Alpine skiing event in the early stages of her run on Sunday, before having to be airlifted to hospital. 

She could be heard crying out in pain and was attended to by various medics, while her own doctor travelled with her to hospital. The crash came as she attempted to compete despite having ruptured her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) less than a fortnight earlier.

Posting on Instagram, Vonn shared a picture of her crash and delivered a detailed update: “Yesterday my Olympic dream did not finish the way I dreamt it would. It wasn’t a story book ending or a fairy tail, it was just life. I dared to dream and had worked so hard to achieve it. Because in Downhill ski racing the difference between a strategic line and a catastrophic injury can be as small as 5 inches.

“I was simply 5 inches too tight on my line when my right arm hooked inside of the gate, twisting me and resulted in my crash. My ACL and past injuries had nothing to do with my crash whatsoever.

“Unfortunately, I sustained a complex tibia fracture that is currently stable but will require multiple surgeries to fix properly.

“While yesterday did not end the way I had hoped, and despite the intense physical pain it caused, I have no regrets. Standing in the starting gate yesterday was an incredible feeling that I will never forget. Knowing I stood there having a chance to win was a victory in and of itself. I also knew that racing was a risk. It always was and always will be an incredibly dangerous sport.

“And similar to ski racing, we take risks in life. We dream. We love. We jump. And sometimes we fall. Sometimes our hearts are broken. Sometimes we don’t achieve the dreams we know we could have. But that is the also the beauty of life; we can try.

“I tried. I dreamt. I jumped.

“I hope if you take away anything from my journey it’s that you all have the courage to dare greatly. Life is too short not to take chances on yourself. Because the only failure in life is not trying.

“I believe in you, just as you believed in me.”

“There will be no more ski races for Lindsey Vonn, as long as I have anything to say about it.”