Industry News
Retired American ski racer Lindsey Vonn has undergone yet another knee surgery. This time, the 39-year-old elected to undergo knee replacement surgery, after issues with her right knee resulting from several injuries during her career never really were fixed sufficiently by previous surgeries. During knee replacement surgery, parts of the damaged knee are replaced with implants, in Vonn’s case titanium implants, which are softer and a bit more flexible than cobalt chrome implants. She had the prepatory work done for the knee replacement in October 2023 by Thomas Hacket, MD, who is a world-renowned orthopedic surgeon from Vail, Colorado.
The extent of her knee injuries from competitive ski racing had forced Vonn in 2019 to retire, who admittedly found it harder and harder to bounce back from each injury. Her most recent knee surgery had been less than a year ago in July 2023 on the same knee. Dr. Hacket had hoped to be able to slow down the need for a knee replacement but Vonn admits “I got to the point where it was too much and my knee could not handle doing the things I love to do.” A knee replacement was the only option left and the surgery was performed by James Roche, MD, from Florida, who is a specialist in knee replacement surgeries.
With 82 World Cup victories, Lindsey Vonn remains one of the most successful skiers of all time. She is second only to Mikaela Shiffrin in terms of most female World Cup podiums, having podiumed a total of 137 times. Vonn has won the Overall Alpine title a total of five times and has won seven World Championship titles in her 13-year career.
Unfortunately, during that career Vonn also sustained several injuries. In 2006 Vonn tore her Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) during a training crash in Colorado. In 2007 she tore her ACL again during the World Cup Super-G in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. She suffered a third ACL tear in 2013 during the Super-G event at the World Championships in Schladming, Austria. She sprained her Medial Collateral Ligament (MCL) during a training crash at Copper Mountain, Colorado. She fractured her left knee during a super-G race in Soldeu, Andorra in 2016, and then sprained her Lateral Collateral Ligament (LCL) during a training run at Copper Mountain, Colorado.
“After a lot of thought, research and talking to many many doctors, I made the decision to get a knee replacement. I have severe tri-compartment degeneration but the main compartment that has been painful is the lateral compartment, or the outside of my knee. So Dr. Roche did a Mako Robot assisted lateral unicompartmental replacement. In other words, they cut off part of my bone and replaced it with titanium pieces. Dr Roche and his team did an incredible job and I’m recovering well. I hope this helps me lead the active life I’ve always wanted.”
Vonn’s social media account has seen an outpouring of well wishes from some of the world’s biggest celebrities, ranging from sporting legends like tennis player Billie Jean King or swimmer Michael Phelps to fellow skiers like Corinne Suter or Aksel Svindal to Hollywood stars like Reese Witherspoon.
“Appreciate all of the well wishes🙏🏻 Means a lot to me. But don’t worry, this is just another bump in the road in my journey through life and you know I’ll be back up and running asap 💪🏻 can’t hold me down for long!”
— Lindsey Vonn
We wish her a speedy recovery and that the knee replacement will finally fix all her issues with her right knee.
