Livigno: American skiing superstar Lindsey Vonn says she will not let a torn ACL derail her comeback to racing as she attempts to compete at what would be her fifth Winter Olympics, declaring: “I’m gonna do it. End of story.”

Vonn revealed at a highly-anticipated press conference on Tuesday the full extent of the injuries she suffered in a crash during a World Cup race in Crans-Montana, Switzerland last week, which threw her plans for Milano Cortina 2026 into disarray.

Lindsey Vonn at her press conference in Cortina d’Ampezzo on Tuesday.© AP

But the 41-year-old, who retired from competitive skiing almost six years ago, is pushing on regardless, telling reporters in Cortina d’Ampezzo that she would still take part in the women’s downhill competition on Sunday with the assistance of a knee brace.

“This is not, obviously, what I had hoped for,” Vonn said.

“I’ve been working really hard to come into these Games in a much different position. I know what my chances were before the crash, and I know my chances aren’t the same as it stands today, but I know there’s still a chance and as long as there’s a chance, I will try.”

Vonn is considered one of the greatest skiiers of all time. She won gold in the downhill event at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and is a four-time overall World Cup champion, with her decision to come out of retirement shaping as one of the biggest stories of this year’s Games.

She announced her retirement in 2019 due to the amount of pain she was suffering from her many injuries – but partial replacement surgery on her right knee left her feeling so much better that she decided to mount a comeback, targeting Cortina as the place she wanted to end her career because it was one of her favourite slopes in the world.

In December, she became the oldest downhill skiing World Cup winner in St. Moritz with her 83rd victory – and her form had suggested she was a strong medal contender in that event and in the women’s super-G, for which she has also qualified.

Her story appeared to be bound for a cruel ending when she was airlifted to hospital after her crash on Friday, with scans revealing a total ACL rupture in her left knee, bone bruising and meniscal damage.

But Vonn said she went skiing on Tuesday and that her knee felt strong and stable enough to roll the dice.

“I felt like this was an amazing opportunity to close out my career in a way that I wanted to,” she said.

“It hasn’t gone exactly the way I wanted to, but I don’t want to have any regrets. I’m still here. I think I’m still able to fight.

“I haven’t cried. Normally in the past, there’s always a moment where you break down and you realise the severity of things and that your dreams are slipping through your fingers – but I didn’t have that this time. I’m not letting this slip through my fingers.”