U.S. skiing great Lindsey Vonn has had two operations in Italy after a serious leg fracture, a source said, to stabilize her after a horrific crash 13 seconds into one of the crucial hotly anticipated races on the Winter Olympics.
Vonn, 41, was flown by helicopter to the Ca’ Foncello Hospital in town of Treviso from Cortina d’Ampezzo after her audacious bid to win downhill gold with a ruptured knee ligament resulted in agony on Sunday.
She was operated on by a joint team of local orthopedic and plastic surgeons, the source near the matter said on Monday, explaining that the procedures were intended to forestall complications linked to swelling and blood flow.
Vonn’s personal doctor was present but only assisted while Italian surgeons led the procedures, the source added.
U.S. DELEGATION MAY GIVE UPDATE
The USA Olympic and Paralympic Committee didn’t reply to a request for comment concerning the treatment for Vonn, one of the crucial decorated ski racers in history.
The hospital had said on Sunday that she underwent an operation to stabilize her left leg but didn’t mention a second procedure. She suffered the ACL injury to her left knee in late January.
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The hospital had initially said it would offer an additional update on her condition at 1100 GMT on Monday but this plan was scrapped and further information was expected to come back from the U.S. delegation.
A small group of reporters waited outside the hospital in Treviso, which is a brief drive from Venice, but it surely was otherwise a daily day there with no well-wishers turning up.
‘ONE IN A THOUSAND’ ACCIDENT
The case has highlighted a debate in elite sport over who decides when an injured athlete is fit to compete and what message those decisions send.
International Ski Federation President Johan Eliasch said the competitor needed to make up their very own mind.
“I firmly imagine that this must be decided by the person … And in her case, she definitely knows her injuries so much higher than anybody else,” he told reporters on Monday.
“And what can be necessary for people to know that the accident that she had yesterday, she was incredibly unlucky. It was a one in a thousand. She got too near the gate, and she or he got stuck when she was within the air within the gate and commenced rotating.”
VICTIM OF HER OWN SUCCESS, MEDALLIST SAYS
Sebastien Amiez, a former French skier and Olympic silver medallist, said Vonn only took part within the race in Crans-Montana on January 30 where she ruptured her ACL because she had been doing so well within the World Cup.
“Her original goal was to peak on the Olympic Games. But she won early races, led the World Cup, and as a champion she wanted all the things. Yesterday, unfortunately, her luck ran out — that’s the way it goes,” he said.
The U.S. ski team had inspected several facilities before choosing Treviso, some 125 km (80 miles) from Cortina, favoring it over a more in-depth hospital in Belluno because Treviso also has a neurosurgery department, the source said.
Vonn has been inundated with messages of support from the sporting world and beyond.
“You might be a terrific inspiration and an example of perseverance,” said tennis great Rafa Nadal. “Stay strong and recover soon!”