Lindsey Vonn was hoping to win a second Olympic gold medal.
Lindsey Vonn was hoping to win a second Olympic gold medal. Photograph: Stefano Rellandini/AFP/Getty Images

Lindsey Vonn

Lindsey Vonn has hit back at the “haters” who were critical of her decision to take part at this year’s Winter Olympics.

The American crashed out early in her run during the women’s downhill competition during the opening weekend of this month’s Games. She suffered a complex tibia fracture and underwent multiple surgeries in Italy before being flown back to the US for further treatment earlier this week.

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The 41-year-old was taking part in her fifth Olympics after a knee replacement and coming out of a temporary retirement. She was also skiing on a torn ACL. Some critics said she should have given up her Olympic spot to someone younger and with a clean bill of health.

On Saturday, Vonn responded to those accusations. In a post on Instagram, Vonn said she “wanted to recap my season for all the haters out there that didn’t understand what it means to earn your spot”.

The post contained video of races from earlier this season at St Moritz, Val d’Isère, Zauchensee and Tarvisio. She reached the podium in all five World Cup downhill races she entered in the run-up to the Olympics, including two victories. However, the crash at the end of January that ruptured her ACL made some question whether she was risking her life as she sought to win her second Olympic gold medal.

She added that she had no regrets over her decision to come back from her initial retirement in 2019.

“It wasn’t all for nothing… it wasn’t a dream… although sitting in this hospital bed it seems far away now… But I did it,” she wrote. “I came back. I won. I showed up and did what most thought was impossible at my age with a partial knee replacement. These memories I’ll have forever and I’m grateful for every one of them. Every moment was amazing. Every moment was worth it.”

Her fellow skiers have also supported her. “It’s her choice [to race at the Olympics],” Italy’s Federica Brignone, who won two gold medals at this year’s Games, said. “If it’s your body, then you decide what to do, whether to race or not. It’s not up to others. Only you.”