Vonn's injuries put Sochi Games at risk

Asbury Park (N.J.) Press—February 5, 2013

Does a ripped up knee 12 months before the Sochi Games take U.S. skiing star Lindsey Vonn out of contention for Olympic medals in Russia?

Vonn, 28, faces reconstructive surgery on her right knee after a horrific fall in a super-G race Tuesday at the world championships in Austria. She tore her anterior cruciate ligament and medial collateral ligament in her knee and suffered a broken bone in her lower leg.

Orthopedic surgeon Robert Marx, M.D., cautions that Vonn’s future depends on the severity of the leg fracture.

“Some of those amount to nothing, but there are those that can become quite an issue,” said Dr. Robert Marx, professor of orthopedic surgery at Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City. “I think she can be 100 percent healthy within a year, but it’s also possible she’ll never be 100 percent again.”

This story originally appeared on app.com.