Lindsey Vonn is going to skip the Sochi Olympics because of a right knee injury.
Her personal publicist, Lewis Kay, says in a statement Tuesday that Vonn “will have surgery shortly.”
The 29-year-old American won two medals at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, including a gold in the downhill. She is a four-time overall World Cup champion and the biggest name in Alpine skiing.
But Vonn tore two ligaments in her right knee during a high-speed crash at the world championships last February, sidelining her for about 10 months. She re-tore her surgically repaired ACL in a training crash in November, then sprained her MCL during a race at Val d’Isere, France, last month.
In a Facebook post, Vonn wrote: “I am devastated to announce that I will not be able to compete in Sochi. I did everything I possibly could to somehow get strong enough to overcome having no ACL but the reality has sunk in that my knee is just too unstable to compete at this level. I’m having surgery soon so that I can be ready for the World Championships at home in Vail next February.
“On a positive note, this means there will be an additional spot so that one of my teammates can go for gold. Thank you all so much for all of the love and support. I will be cheering for all of the Olympians and especially team USA!”