"Nine days previous, she had torn her ACL during a race in Switzerland. In the time between these two crashes, her decision to continue competing in the Olympics, to ski down a hill at 80 miles per hour, as a 41 year old without a major ligament in her knee, was the subject of intense scrutiny. My friends, like much of the world, had thoughts and feelings. The question at the heart of their debate: Might it be more impressive, important, and sustainable to celebrate when an athlete listens to the requests of their body?"
"As I read through the texts, I was supine on a heating pad. My pregnancy had aggravated a back injury that I sustained during my professional soccer career. Disc, spine, cartilage, compression. The pain, which recalls itself to me regularly, is one remnant of decisions I made many years ago when nothing mattered more to me than playing. I can recall the blur of medical professionals who tended to my knees, my feet, my spine."
Lindsey Vonn violently crashed in an Olympic downhill and was airlifted from the mountain, nine days after tearing her ACL in Switzerland. Her decision to compete without a major knee ligament at age 41 sparked intense scrutiny and debate about whether athletes should honor bodily limits. Vonn's injury history includes broken knee, ankle, leg, and arm, plus two torn ACLs and a torn LCL. The narrator compares Vonn's choices with personal lasting injuries from a professional soccer career and pregnancy-aggravated back damage, recalling recurring pain and repeated medical consultations that emphasized preserving long-term function.
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