Lindsey Vonn shows plates and screws removed from her leg in ninth surgery

Lindsey Vonn, the American ski star, has shown on Instagram the metal plates and screws removed from her left leg in her ninth operation. “Surgery went well. Will give you an update soon,” the 42-year-old wrote in one Instagram story. In another she held up a clear bag of the removed metal with an expletive-laden caption saying she had got it all out of her leg. The photo is at the end of this article.

In a video recorded before the operation, Vonn explained that surgeons would take out all the plates and screws to make room for a new anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). That could not be done earlier, she said, because the plates left no room for it.

Bones healed, ligament repaired

Vonn said she had waited nine months for the bones to heal so that the ligament could be repaired. The bones have now healed, which she called great news, but with the ligament repaired she faces another six to nine months of recovery. Before the operation she wrote that she hoped this ninth surgery would be her last.

At the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics in February, Vonn raced despite tearing her anterior cruciate ligament a week earlier. She crashed 13 seconds into the downhill and suffered an open fracture and a tibial plateau fracture. Her first four operations were in Treviso, Italy, and the rest in the United States.

Door to racing still open

Vonn, who has three Olympic medals and 84 World Cup wins, has been named in the US team for the 2026-27 World Cup season. She has said she does not want to close the door on racing completely and wants to be back on the mountain fully fit before making a final decision. On Saturday Latvia’s Dženifera Ģērmane will start her World Cup season in Levi, Finland.