American downhill skier Lindsey Vonn may have broken her leg at the Olympics, but she’s also mending a broken heart after her beloved dog died just a day after her devastating crash on Feb. 8 at the Milan Cortina Winter Games.
Posting from the hospital where she’s undergoing further surgery on a complex tibial fracture in her left leg, the 41-year-old called her deceased dog Leo “her first love.”
“This has been an incredibly hard few days,” she wrote in an Instagram post. “Probably the hardest of my life. I still have not come to terms that he is gone.”
Vonn said Leo’s health took a turn on the day she crashed.
“The day I crashed, so did Leo,” she wrote. “He had been recently diagnosed with lung cancer (he survived lymphoma a year and a half ago), but now his heart was failing him. He was in pain, and his body could no longer keep up with his strong mind.”
“As I layed in my hospital bed the day after my crash, we said goodbye to my big boy.”
Vonn said Leo’s death, combined with her Olympic heartbreak, has taken a toll.
“I had lost so much that meant something to me in such a short amount of time. I can’t believe it.”
“There will never be another Leo. He will always be my first love.”
The fact that Vonn was even able to compete on Sunday was a testament to her will and determination.
Just days before the Games got underway, she ruptured her ACL in a crash. Despite the injury, she said, “I will do everything in my power to be in the starting gate.”
She fulfilled that vow, but moments after her run began, she clipped a gate with her shoulder and crashed hard, screaming in pain as medical personnel rushed to help her.
President of the International Ski and Snowboard Federation, Johan Eliasch, called the crash “tragic” but added “it’s ski racing,” alluding to the sport’s inherent risks.
“I can only say thank you for what she has done for our sport,” he said, “because this race has been the talk of the games and it’s put our sport in the best possible light.”
With files from The Associated Press
American downhill skier Lindsey Vonn may have broken her leg at the Olympics, but she’s also mending a broken heart after her beloved dog died just a day after her devastating crash on Feb. 8 at the Milan Cortina Winter Games. Posting from the hospital where she’s undergoing further surgery on a complex tibial fracture Sports
American downhill skier Lindsey Vonn may have broken her leg at the Olympics, but she’s also mending a broken heart after her beloved dog died just a day after her devastating crash on Feb. 8 at the Milan Cortina Winter Games.
Posting from the hospital where she’s undergoing further surgery on a complex tibial fracture in her left leg, the 41-year-old called her deceased dog Leo “her first love.”
“This has been an incredibly hard few days,” she wrote in an Instagram post. “Probably the hardest of my life. I still have not come to terms that he is gone.”
Vonn said Leo’s health took a turn on the day she crashed.
“The day I crashed, so did Leo,” she wrote. “He had been recently diagnosed with lung cancer (he survived lymphoma a year and a half ago), but now his heart was failing him. He was in pain, and his body could no longer keep up with his strong mind.”
“As I layed in my hospital bed the day after my crash, we said goodbye to my big boy.”
Vonn said Leo’s death, combined with her Olympic heartbreak, has taken a toll.
“I had lost so much that meant something to me in such a short amount of time. I can’t believe it.”
“There will never be another Leo. He will always be my first love.”
The fact that Vonn was even able to compete on Sunday was a testament to her will and determination.
Just days before the Games got underway, she ruptured her ACL in a crash. Despite the injury, she said, “I will do everything in my power to be in the starting gate.”
She fulfilled that vow, but moments after her run began, she clipped a gate with her shoulder and crashed hard, screaming in pain as medical personnel rushed to help her.
President of the International Ski and Snowboard Federation, Johan Eliasch, called the crash “tragic” but added “it’s ski racing,” alluding to the sport’s inherent risks.
“I can only say thank you for what she has done for our sport,” he said, “because this race has been the talk of the games and it’s put our sport in the best possible light.”
With files from The Associated Press