Can You Ski With a Torn ACL?

Skier Lindsey Vonn said she plans to continue competing at the upcoming Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina despite suffering a serious knee injury about a week before her first race.

Vonn, 41, wrote in a Feb. 3 social media post that she “completely” tore the ACL, or anterior cruciate ligament, in her left knee after a fall during a Jan. 30 World Cup downhill event. She said she also suffered a bone bruise and tears to her meniscus, a piece of cartilage in the knee that acts as a shock absorber.

Despite her injury, Vonn said her Olympic dream “is not over.” Her first Olympic race, the women’s downhill, will take place on Sunday February 8. “After extensive consultations with doctors, intense therapy, physical testing as well as skiing today, I have determined that I am capable of competing in the Olympic downhill on Sunday,” she wrote.

Can you ski with a torn ACL?

For athletes involved in sports where the ACL, which stabilizes the knee joint, is more susceptible to injury, reconstructive surgery and months of physical therapy are usually recommended before a return to sports, says Dr. Anthony Petrosini, an orthopedic sports medicine surgeon at Hackensack Meridian Jersey Shore University Medical Center.

“If this were a high school or college athlete, the recommendation would be not to compete with this injury,” says Petrosini, who did not treat the Olympian. “But Lindsey Vonn is unique. If anyone is going to do it, it’s going to be her.”

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Vonn said that despite her injuries, her knee is “stable” and her muscles are “firing and responding the way they should.” She said she plans to compete with a double.

“[A]As long as I have the opportunity, I will not lose hope. I’m not going to give up!” said Vonn, a five-time Olympian who returned to skiing in 2024 after injuries forced her to retire more than five years ago.

What are the causes of ACL injuries?

ACL injuries are common in activities that require athletes to change direction, jump, or stop suddenly, such as football, wrestling, and skiing. ACL injuries can range from partial sprains and tears to complete tears.

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In cases where a person’s ACL is completely torn, like Vonn’s, competition likely won’t damage it further, Petrosini says. But without surgery to correct an ACL tear, other knee structures will be at greater risk of injury during high-impact activities like skiing, even if someone wears a brace, he says.