What Did Mikaela Shiffrin Say About Witnessing Lindsey Vonn Competing at the Winter Olympics Despite ACL Tear

As Lindsey Vonn prepares to take part in the women’s downhill today at the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics, her USA teammate Mikaela Shiffrin shared a few words of encouragement for her. Vonn, 41, is making her fifth and final Olympic appearance, seven years after retiring in 2019 due to multiple injuries.

She made her comeback last season and qualified for the Milan Games after strong performances through the 2025-26 season, including two World Cup downhill wins. Just a week before the Games, Vonn faced a crushing setback: a complete ACL tear in her left knee during a World Cup race in Switzerland on Jan. 30.

Mikaela Shiffrin’s Message for Lindsey Vonn

Undeterred by her injury, Vonn declared she will race in the women’s downhill. In the second training run on Feb. 7, she blazed down the course with the third fastest time, clocking 1:38.28 – just 0.37 seconds behind leader Breezy Johnson. Her resilience seems to have kept the injury at bay, and she is hungry to match or surpass this performance when it counts.

In a press conference ahead of the downhill, Shiffrin expressed her support for Vonn, saying:

“I am so excited to watch. I think we all are. Her tenacity and grit and what she’s showing up with in this Olympics, and staying true to her own values, that’s straight up beautiful. I’m so excited to see Lindsey, Breezy, and Jackie and all of my teammates competing. I trained today and I have a recovery tomorrow, so I will be cheering and riveted to the TV. I have 100 percent belief that anything is possible, she’s just done incredible things despite injuries before, I have a lot of belief. I’m crossing my fingers for all my teammates.”

Shiffrin is set to compete in the slalom, giant slalom, and team combined, zeroing in on her technical strengths after a challenging Beijing 2022 Games where she left without a medal.

Vonn Determined To Capture Glory in Downhill

Vonn currently has three Olympic medals to her name: 1 gold (downhill 2010) and 2 bronzes (super-G 2010, downhill 2018), and she will be looking for a medal once again to close out her Olympic journey on a high note.

Despite her injury, Vonn seems determined to chase that goal. In a post on Instagram, she shared a video of herself in the gym, writing: “I’m not giving up 💪🏻 working as hard as I can to make it happen! Thank you to my team and everyone for your incredible support. Keep believing 🙏🏻❤️,”

Vonn will take on the women’s downhill today, Feb. 8, at 5:30 a.m. ET, racing down the iconic Olimpia delle Tofane course in Cortina d’Ampezzo.