U.S. skiing legend Lindsey Vonn is enduring an extraordinarily difficult period, revealing she is scheduled for yet another surgery on her complex tibia fracture — her fifth since a devastating crash at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics — mere hours after returning to the United States, while simultaneously grieving the sudden loss of her longtime companion dog, Leo.
The 41-year-old, a 2010 Olympic downhill gold medalist and one of Alpine skiing’s most iconic figures, suffered a terrifying fall just 13 seconds into her women’s downhill run on February 8 in Cortina d’Ampezzo. After clipping a gate with her shoulder, Vonn crashed heavily, sustaining a “complex tibia fracture” that required immediate airlifting from the course and multiple procedures in an Italian hospital.
Vonn underwent four surgeries in Italy to stabilize and address the severe injury, which came on the heels of a pre-Games ACL tear she defied to compete anyway. She returned home earlier this week, sharing an emotional update: “My leg is still in pieces…but I’m finally HOME.”
Tragically, the physical pain has been compounded by profound personal loss. In a heartfelt Instagram post on February 18, Vonn announced that her 13-year-old rescue dog Leo — adopted in 2013 during her recovery from a second ACL injury — passed away on February 9, the day after her Olympic crash.
“Leo Vonn ✝️🤍 2013-2/9/2026 Leo has passed away and joined Lucy and Bear up in heaven 🪽,” she wrote. “This has been an incredibly hard few days. Probably the hardest of my life. I still have not come to terms that he is gone…”
Vonn explained that Leo had recently been diagnosed with lung cancer after previously surviving lymphoma a year and a half earlier. “The day I crashed, so did Leo… his heart was failing him. He was in pain and his body could no longer keep up with his strong mind.”
Describing Leo as her constant source of comfort through years of injuries, surgeries, and setbacks — including cuddling during the Sochi 2014 Olympics recovery — Vonn called him her “first love.” “There will never be another Leo. He will always be my first love… Heading in for more surgery today. Will be thinking of him when I close my eyes. I will love you forever my big boy 🤍”
As Vonn prepares for this latest procedure — aimed at further repairing the fracture and potentially removing external fixation hardware — she takes some solace in knowing Leo is no longer suffering and reunited with other lost loved ones. Fans, fellow athletes, and the sports community have rallied with an outpouring of support, highlighting her resilience amid back-to-back tragedies.
Vonn’s journey from Olympic comeback hopeful to this challenging recovery underscores the physical and emotional toll of elite sport — and the deep bonds that sustain athletes through it all.
