Lindsey Vonn’s Transparency About Her Injuries Capture World-Wide Attention, And Perhaps Some Positive Outcomes

Her fierce competitive spirit, passion for downhill skiing and dedication as a mature Olympian is easy to admire. Her openness and transparency about her ACL injury has drawn worldwide media and public attention and awareness of ACL injuries, which are significantly more common in female athletes.

Over the past several weeks, many people, both patients as well as fellow doctors – have asked me about Lindsey’s injuries. This dialogue leads to important patient education opportunities about injury risks among specific sports and awareness of prevention protocols.

Lindsay’s subsequent injuries and fractures after her final downhill run elevated her orthopedic story to another level. The media coverage of her surgeries and her online transparency of her fracture has created more intensive dialogue and awareness of complex fractures, compartment syndrome and external fixation devices. Her transparency is helping normalize the emotional toll of injuries and shed light on the complexity of orthopedic trauma care and rehabilitation. As an orthopedic surgeon and athlete, I am proud of her openness in sharing her story.

Her comeback reinforces resilience and how the human body can recover, get stronger and achieve greatness. Her injuries showed the seriousness of ACL tears as well as the dangers of orthopedic trauma.

Perhaps the continued discussion will help bring more awareness to athletes today, whether it’s injury prevention exercises to reduce risks of their own ACL tears, or governing bodies, coaches and parents being more vocal about advocacy for women’s sports and health.

My hope is that this extensive media attention and online viral commentary will transform a single athlete’s injury into a catalyst for positive change for injury awareness and prevention in female athletes.