A top medical professional has shared images explaining the severity of Lindsey Vonn's injury following her horrific crash during the Winter Olympic Games.
The 2026 Winter Olympics are currently ongoing in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, as Team Great Britain still chase their first medal at the Games.
Currently it is Norway that lead the medals table with 14, including seven gold medals, while hosts Italy have taken home the most medals overall with 17, six of which are gold.
However, the biggest story of the Games so far hasn't been who is winning the medals, as Vonn, a legend of the Winter Olympics, was involved in a terrifying crash just days after the Games started.
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The crash led to the American breaking her leg having arrived at the Games with an ACL injury, and now a regenerative medicine expert has provided some images explaining exactly what Vonn is now having to deal with.
The 2026 Winter Olympics served as Vonn's fifth Games, as she arrived in Italy looking to to add to her medal tally of three, despite dealing with a ruptured ACL, a bone bruise and meniscal damage
But a frightening crash just seconds after leaving the start house during the women's downhill competition saw the 41-year-old taken to hospital by a rescue helicopter, putting an end to her Olympic career.
Taking to social media, Vonn told fans that she had undergone a 'successful' third surgery, adding: "Success today has a completely different meaning than it did a few days ago. I'm making progress and while it is slow, I know I'll be ok."
But, according to a sports and family medicine professional with expertise in stem cells, it's likely that this is only the beginning of a very long road to recovery for Vonn, as he explained the true severity of the injury.
Jesse Morse, M.D., who has previously explained the details of injuries to athletes in the NFL and the NBA, took to social media to assess Vonn's leg break, describing it as a 'bad' fracture.
Taking to X, he wrote: "When she said she would need multiple surgeries she wasn’t kidding. She just completed her 3rd.
"When I say this was a ‘bad’ fracture I wasn’t kidding."
Sharing pictures of a similar injury, noting that 'it's not hers', he continued: "This is called an external fixator (‘x-fix’) and is being used to help stabilise the fractured tibia (and maybe more)."
Warning: Graphic Images
Since the injury Vonn has spoken out to thank all the staff that have helped support and treat her, while sharing well wishes for the other American athletes still competing in Italy,
She wrote: "Thankful for all of the incredible medical staff, friends, family, who have been by my side and the beautiful outpouring of love and support from people around the world.
"Also, huge congrats to my teammates and all of the Team USA athletes who are out there inspiring me and giving me something to cheer for.
"In Downhill ski racing the difference between a strategic line and a catastrophic injury can be as small as five inches.
"I was simply five 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."
Ben McCrum