Alan Kildow, the father of American skier Lindsey Vonn, has suggested that his daughter will no longer compete following her leg break at the Winter Olympics.
Vonn, 41, suffered a "complex tibia fracture" while competing in Sunday's women's downhill skiing final in Cortina, with the accident taking place just 13 seconds into the run as she crashed on the piste.
After clipping a slalom gate while midair, the three-time Olympic medalist later confirmed that she will need "multiple surgeries" following the accident.
Vonn, who had already ruptured her ACL in a crash at a World Cup race on January 30 but was deemed fit to compete, released a lengthy statement on Monday as she offered an update on her condition.
Advert
"Yesterday my Olympic dream did not finish the way I dreamt it would," she said on Instagram. "It wasn't a story book ending or a fairy tale, it was just life."
She added: "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."
The American is no stranger to injuries. Back in 2024, she underwent a robot-assisted partial knee replacement, which used titanium components to replace parts of her knee.
And as mentioned above, Vonn came into this month's Olympic event carrying an injury after rupturing ligaments in her left knee.
Vonn's father, Alan Kildow, believes now is the right time for his daughter to walk away from the sport.
"She's 41 years old and this is the end of her career," Kildow told The Associated Press. "There will be no more ski races for Lindsey Vonn, as long as I have anything to say about it."
He added: "She's a very strong individual. She knows physical pain and she understands the circumstances that she finds herself in. And she's able to handle it. Better than I expected. She's a very, very strong person. And so I think she's handling it real well."
Kildow also detailed the scene at the downhill competition in Cortina, as the Vonn family watched the crash from the finish area.
"First, the shock and the horror of the whole thing, seeing a crash like that. It can be dramatic and traumatic. You're just horrified at what those kinds of impacts have," he added.
"You can go into a shock - an emotional psychological shock. Because it's difficult to just accept what's happened. But she's well cared for. And the USOC and the U.S. Ski Team have a very, very top-notch doctor with her and she is being very well cared for here in Italy."
Jack Kenmare