United States freestyle skier Rell Harwood followed in the footsteps of fellow Team USA athlete Lindsey Vonn by competing with a torn ACL in the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Harwood tore her ACL in Dec. 2025 and still chose to participate in Saturday night’s big air qualifying, via USA Today’s Chris Bumbaca.
While the 24-year-old ultimately wasn’t able to earn a spot in the 12-person final, she was still impressed with her ability to compete while managing the injury.
“It’s been a lot of ups and downs,” Harwood said, per Bumbaca. “Like, ‘Will I even make it here?’ So to just go in and put down some of my hardest tricks feels really amazing.”
Vonn initially tore the ACL in her left knee on Jan. 30. The three-time Olympic medalist still chose to compete in the Games, but crashed during her first run in the women’s downhill final on Feb. 8 and suffered a broken leg.
Vonn later explained that the torn ACL she was competing with did not cause the crash.
She also confirmed that she didn’t regret suiting up for the Olympics.
As for Harwood, she discussed the similarities between herself and Vonn.
“It’s really hard. I think that as women, our bodies hold us back from doing the things we want to do,” Harwood said, per Bumbaca. “I didn’t make it to the last Olympics because of a knee injury. I wanted to prove that no matter what’s going on with me I’m still going to try and give it my all. I think that’s what Lindsey was doing too. All you can do is try and see what happens. That’s all I did.”
The women’s big air final will begin on Monday at 1:30 p.m. ET.
This content was brought to you by: Bleacher Report – Front Page
