Lindsey Vonn has been through a lot over the last few weeks, even more than we previously knew.
The legendary U.S. ski racer revealed Wednesday that on the day after she crashed violently while competing at the Milan-Cortina Olympics, Vonn lost someone very close to her.
Her dog, Leo.
Vonn wrote in a lengthy Instagram post that Leo has joined two of her other canine companions, Lucy and Bear, “up in heaven.”
“This has been an incredibly hard few days. Probably the hardest of my life. I still have not come to terms that he is gone…” Vonn wrote. “The day I crashed, so did Leo. He had been recently diagnosed with lung cancer (he survived lymphoma a year and a half ago) but now his heart was failing him. He was in pain and his body could no longer keep up with his strong mind.
“As I layed in my hospital bed the day after my crash, we said goodbye to my big boy.”
Vonn adopted Leo from an animal shelter in January 2014, days after she came to the realization she would not be able to compete in that year’s Winter Games because of a knee injury. She wrote on social media at the time that Leo had been hit by a car and, like her at the time, had “a bad knee.”
“My boy has been with me since my second ACL injury, when I needed him most,” Vonn wrote in Wednesday’s post. “He held me on the sofa as I watched the Sochi Olympics. He lifted me up when I was down. He layed by me, and cuddle me, always making me feel safe and loved. We have been through so much together in 13 years.”
Vonn made a comeback last year after nearly six years away from ski racing. In December, the 41-year-old Olympic gold medalist announced on Instagram that she had qualified for “my 5th and final Olympics!”
On Jan. 30, a week before the start of the Milan-Cortina Games, Vonn crashed during a downhill race in Switzerland and suffered a complete rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee, along with meniscus and bone damage.
Nonetheless, Vonn was determined to compete in the Olympics. After successfully completing multiple training runs, the 84-time World Cup winner started her downhill run at the top of the Olimpia delle Tofane course in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.
It lasted 13 seconds. Vonn lost control on the first jump as her pole hit a gate, spun sideways in the air and slammed to the ground. She was airlifted by helicopter to a clinic in Cortina, then transferred to a larger hospital in Treviso.
The crash had left her with a complex tibia fracture.
After multiple surgeries in Italy, Vonn was transported by plane to a U.S. hospital this week.
“Thankful to all of the medical staff who helped me get home 🙏🏻❤️ and seriously looking forward to my next surgery when I can get the X-fix out of my leg and will be able to move more,” Vonn wrote Tuesday on Instagram.
“My injury was a lot more severe than just a broken leg. I’m still wrapping my head around it, what it means and the road ahead… but I’m going to give you more detail in the coming days.”
Vonn’s post announcing Leo’s death came on the morning of her next surgery and included more than a dozen photos and videos of her beloved pet.
“There will never be another Leo. He will always be my first love,” Vonn wrote. “Heading in for more surgery today. Will be thinking of him when I close my eyes. I will love you forever my big boy.”
Hours later, she wrote on her Instagram Story: “Going in for surgery soon… lot on my mind but hoping this will be a big step forward.”
That post also included a photo that Vonn appears to have taken from her hospital bed. It shows her injured leg stretched out on the mattress. Sitting next to the bed is her laptop, which displays a close-up photo of Leo playing in the snow.