Team USA alpine skier Lindsey Vonn competed at her fifth Olympic Games this February, despite her previous ACL injury.

Vonn had been airlifted after rupturing her ACL on the World Cup downhill race on Jan. 30.  Despite the injury, Vonn planned to persist in her Winter Olympic plans on Feb. 8.

“I am confident that I can compete,” said Vonn before the Olympics. “It’s not over until it’s over.” 

While injured, Vonn continued to train, performing box jumps, lunges, and weighted squats wearing her leg brace with ease. Vonn claimed to experience no pain or swelling from her knee after the injuries, although she used crutches for multiple days to ease her leg’s load-bearing. 

“Thankfully, actually, all of my experience in my life has given me a lot of confidence in what my body can and cannot do,” said Vonn. “I’ve been in this position before. I know how to handle it. … Even though I don’t want to be in this position, I know how to handle it.”

However, the three-time Olympic medalist fell 13 seconds into her downhill run on Feb. 8. Vonn remained on the course for several minutes while medics attended to her, before she was airlifted to an Italian hospital, where she underwent four surgeries.

At 41 years old, Vonn was the oldest alpine skier at the winter Olympics. According to injury experts, an immediate return to competition is far from the norm and not recommended. Hitting the slopes would expose Vonn to substantial risk of further injury.

However, Vonn stated that her crash had nothing to do with her ACL injury. Instead, her right arm hooked onto a gate on the course, twisting her and resulting in her crash. She suffered a major tibial fracture in her left leg. She returned home by private jet on Feb. 16, and will still need an additional surgery.

“While [the competition] did not end the way I had hoped, and despite the intense physical pain it caused, I have no regrets,” Vonn said.