Lindsey Vonn has no regrets after Olympics crash

Lindsey Vonn has “no regrets” about her decision to participate in the Winter Olympics nine days after tearing his ACL, despite a complex tibia fracture that will require multiple surgeries in a accident in Sunday's descent.

Vonn injured her ACL in Switzerland during the final Alpine Skiing World Cup race before the Games. However, the 41-year-old was determined to compete in her final Olympics in Milan-Cortina and had successfully completed two training runs.

However, the risk she took in racing backfired early in her race when Vonn crashed into a gate, receiving prolonged medical treatment on the track before being airlifted off the track.

The accident marked a sad end to Vonn's Olympic career, which saw her win three medals, including gold in the downhill in 2010 in Vancouver.

But in a statement posted to her Instagram account, Vonn struck an optimistic note despite her gruesome injury.

She wrote: “Yesterday my Olympic dream didn't end the way I dreamed it would. It wasn't a storybook ending or a fairy tale, it was just life. I dared to dream and I worked so hard to achieve it. Because in alpine skiing, the difference between a strategic line and a catastrophic injury can be as small as 5 inches.

“I was just 5 inches too tight on my line when my right arm caught on the inside of the door, twisting and causing my fall. My ACL and past injuries had nothing to do with my fall.

“Unfortunately, I suffered a complex tibia fracture which is currently stable but will require several surgeries to properly repair.

“Even though yesterday didn't end as I had hoped, and despite the intense physical pain it caused, I have no regrets. Standing in the starting gate yesterday was an incredible feeling that I will never forget. Knowing that I was there and having a chance to win was a victory in itself. I also knew that racing was a risk. It always has been and always will be an incredibly dangerous sport.

“And like ski racing, we take risks in life. We dream. We love. We jump. And sometimes we fall. Sometimes our hearts are broken. Sometimes we don't achieve the dreams we know we can have. But that's also the beauty of life; we can try.

“I tried. I dreamed. I jumped.

“I hope that if you take anything away from my journey, it's that you all have the courage to dare. Life is too short not to take risks. Because the only failure in life is not trying.

“I believe in you, just like you believed in me.”