Lindsay Vonn, the most decorated female skier in U.S. history, announced Tuesday morning she will withdraw from the upcoming Winter Olympics in Sochi.
Vonn, who underwent reconstructive knee surgery after this terrifying crash 11 months ago, says she is "devastated" to announce she will be unable to compete in Sochi, which begins a month from today. (Via NBC)
The statement, which was posted to the superstar skier's Facebook page, reads: "I did everything I possibly could to somehow get strong enough to overcome having no ACL but the reality has sunk in that my knee is just too unstable to compete at this level."
Vonn hoped to defend her gold medal from the downhill event in 2010 at Sochi this year. (Via CNN)
But suffered one setback after she partially re-tore one of her reconstructed ligaments in November and then another when she re-aggravated that right knee during a race in December. (Via USA Today, ESPN)
To Vonn's closest followers the news doesn't come as a major surprise after the U.S. team coach said last week that Vonn had not been on skis since that December incident, and had been openly considering the idea of not competing at Sochi.
Vonn is a two-time Olympic medalist, both of those coming in Vancouver in 2010, and is the first American woman ever to win gold in the downhill event. (Via The Ski Channel)
In her statement about Sochi, Vonn also announced she will soon have a second surgery on her damaged knee, and hopes to compete again at the World Championships at her home in Vail, Colorado next year.
