American alpine skier Lindsey Vonn said goodbye to her dog the day after she suffered a severe left leg injury in a crash at the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics.
Vonn shared the news Wednesday in a social media post during which she described the past week as “some of the hardest days of my life.”
“The day I crashed, so did Leo,” Vonn wrote in an Instagram post. “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.”
She continued, “It’s going to be a while before I emotionally process things but I know he will always be with me. I know he’s up there with Lucy and Bear and my mom and grandparents and so many people I have lost in the past few years. And I takes solace knowing he’s not in pain anymore.”
Vonn concluded that she was going in for another procedure on her injured leg Wednesday, and that she would be thinking of Leo “when I close my eyes.”
Vonn previously said on social media that she adopted Leo, then nine months old, from an animal shelter just ahead of the 2014 Sochi Olympics she missed due to a knee injury.
After heading into the 2026 Milan Olympics on a torn left ACL, Vonn had to be airlifted off the course when she crashed 13 seconds into her run at the alpine skiing women’s downhill final on Feb. 8.
She shared in a series of updates on social media that she has since undergone four procedures in an Italian hospital what she identified as a complex tibia fracture.
Vonn had returned to the United States as of Monday, but had not yet stood on her feet since the crash, she said in a recent update.
The skier has previously said she will need at least two more procedures while in the United States.
Vonn, 41, initially announced her retirement from competitive skiing in 2019. She made her successful comeback in December 2024 on her way to qualifying for a spot on the 2026 U.S. Olympic team.
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