Lindsey Vonn has opened up about her horrific crash at the Winter Olympics.
The American skier, 41, clipped a gate just 13 seconds into Sunday's (8 February) downhill run in Cortina.
It was supposed to be her comeback having already suffered ruptured ligaments in her left knee.
After she was treated for lengthy period, the three-time Olympic medalist was airlifted to hospital where she underwent surgery on her fractured left leg.
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Taking to Instagram on Monday (9 February), Vonn said has 'no regrets' over the competing at her fifth Games.
"Yesterday my Olympic dream did not finish the way I dreamt it would," she wrote.
"It wasn’t a story book ending or a fairy tail, it was just life. I dared to dream and had worked so hard to achieve it.
"Because in Downhill ski racing the difference between a strategic line and a catastrophic injury can be as small as five inches."
Explaining what went wrong, Vonn said: "I was simply five inches too tight on my line when my right arm hooked inside of the gate, twisting me and resulted in my crash."
She noted that her 'ACL and past injuries had nothing to do with my crash whatsoever'.
Vonn said she has suffered a 'complex tibia fracture that is currently stable but will require multiple surgeries to fix properly'.
"While yesterday did not end the way I had hoped, and despite the intense physical pain it caused, I have no regrets," she added.
"Standing in the starting gate yesterday was an incredible feeling that I will never forget. Knowing I stood there having a chance to win was a victory in and of itself.
"I also knew that racing was a risk. It always was and always will be an incredibly dangerous sport."
On the ups and downs of professional sports, Vonn continued: "And similar to 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 could have. But that is the also the beauty of life; we can try."
The athlete said she 'tried', 'dreamt' and 'jumped'.
Signing off to her her fans, Vonn said: "I hope if you take away anything from my journey it’s that you all have the courage to dare greatly. Life is too short not to take chances on yourself. Because the only failure in life is not trying. I believe in you, just as you believed in me."
Topics: Sport, Winter Olympics, Olympics
Anish Vij