If you were surprised to hear Lindsey Vonn’s name on the lineup for the upcoming 2026 winter Olympics, you’re not alone. The elite skier and four-time Olympian officially retired in 2019. After a meteoric return to skiing, made possible by a partial knee replacement, Vonn seemed poised to sweep her races– and abruptly tearing her ACL last week hasn’t stopped her from preparing to compete.
So here’s the question many people have been asking our physical therapists this week: what exactly is Vonn facing? To answer this, we asked our Director of Sports Rehabilitation, Matt Johnson, PT, DPT, a Board Certified Sports Physical Therapist.
“Early on after an acute knee injury, something called arthrogenic muscle inhibition often happens,” says Johnson. “It essentially means that the quad muscle won’t function properly.”
Physical therapy techniques can help activate the muscle. “We often use electrical stimulation to recruit the muscle if it won’t turn on,” Johnson says. “In Lindsey’s case, swelling reduction would also be key in the early phases, so that she could have normal range of motion.”
Tearing the ACL destabilizes the whole knee, which could hugely impact Vonn’s performance. “Without the ACL, we lose some ability to sense where our knee joint is in space, a sense called proprioception,” Johnson explains. “Downhill skiing has a high demand for pivoting and quick movements as you react to the uneven surface on the mountain, so Lindsey will be at a disadvantage without full stability of her knee.”
This is another area where physical therapy can help. “Perturbation and balance exercises are vital in restoring that sense of joint position,” Johnson says.
Seven years ago, Vonn didn’t think she’d even have another chance to compete. Physically, her body had deteriorated from the demanding stresses of alpine skiing: she had accumulated tears, fractures, contusions, and concussions, and had undergone multiple surgeries. Vonn couldn’t ski without knee pain, and she had reached the average age of retirement for professional skiers.
But after a robotic-assisted partial knee replacement, Vonn is redefining the timeline for a career as a professional athlete. Her postsurgical goal was to walk without knee pain: instead, she came out of retirement prepared to compete in the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Post-surgical physical therapy likely played a huge role in Vonn’s unprecedented recovery. “Post-surgical rehab is vital for restoring normal range of motion and strength after surgery,” Johnson says.
“Lindsey’s road to recovery was different than most,” he continues. “For most people, the goal is to get back to playing golf, pickleball, or some other low impact sport after three months.”
Vonn may not have expected to get back to professional skiing, but she likely had high expectations.
“Lindsey was probably able to train pain-free for the first time in years,” Johnson says. “Eventually she got back to skiing and was able to do the training regimen and perform at a high level, which pushed her back to skiing at an Olympic standard.”
Thanks to Vonn’s physical therapy team and her sheer determination, she plans to ski in the women’s downhill race on Sunday, and tentatively the women’s team combined and women’s super-G later in the week. Good luck, Lindsey!
If you want to learn more about the advanced techniques that are offered at Physical Therapy at St. Luke’s, visit our Sports Rehabilitation page.
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Sources:
Lindsey Vonn’s injury history – NBC Sports
Lindsey Vonn Got a Knee Replacement. Can She Get to the Olympics? – WSJ
How Lindsey Vonn’s new titanium knee helped her become Olympic-bound once again – The Athletic
Inside Lindsey Vonn’s Unprecedented Attempt at an Olympic Comeback
Lindsey Vonn will compete at the 2026 Winter Olympics despite ‘completely ruptured’ ACL injury | CNN