Lindsey Vonn doing 'jumps' in rehab, coach tells AP 'no doubt' she'll race in Olympics with torn ACL

CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — Lindsey Vonn needed to use a crutch to get around over the weekend. Now she’s performing box jumps, working out in a pool while wearing a weighted vest and skiing at high speed.

No wonder the 41-year-old American is so optimistic that she can compete in the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics downhill on Sunday despite a ruptured ACL in her left knee.

“I’m pretty confident that she can still pull off this dream,” Chris Knight, Vonn’s head coach, told The Associated Press on Wednesday. “I’ve got no doubts in my mind that this is going to be OK.”

Vonn’s team of two physical therapists — Lindsay Winninger and Andi Mitterfellner — and fitness trainer Peter Meliessnig have been working overtime with her.

“She’s been doing box jumps, she’s trying everything out, loads and stresses and things like that to just see where she’s at and see how she feels and she’s pulled up great from everything,” Knight said. “No swelling, no pain.”

Vonn said on Tuesday that surgery “hasn’t been discussed."

“It’s not really on my radar screen right now. The Olympics are the only thing that I’m thinking about,” she said. “Every day my knee’s gotten better. And every day we’re discussing with a full medical team, doctors, physios, everyone, to make sure we’re doing everything to make sure I am making smart and safe decisions.”

Vonn had a partial titanium replacement inserted into her right knee in 2024 and returned to ski racing last season after nearly six years of retirement.

Now she also has bone bruising and meniscal damage in her left knee, though her doctors are not sure if the meniscal issue is a result of her latest injury or from her long series of mishaps earlier in her career.

“She’s not 20 years old, she’s 40 years old. And we’re not looking at anything past this year anyway,” Knight said. “Obviously there’s some risks to just to be able to even ski at the level she wants to ski at. And nobody knows 100% what’s going to happen. But all the right markers and factors are there for us. … It’s a pretty easy decision to keep moving forward.”

Vonn was injured when she lost control landing a jump in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, on Friday, and ended up crashing into the safety nets.

“She did have a crutch up until yesterday,” Knight said. “Just to help with a little bit of the load-bearing, but now that’s gone, too."

After using a crutch on Monday, Vonn tried some free skiing on Tuesday.

“She did some high-speed skiing,” Knight said, “and had no issues.”

Still, Vonn and her team could use some more time for recovery. Knight said she wouldn’t mind if there’s a weather-related cancellation and they got their wish Wednesday when organizers announced that Thursday’s opening downhill training session would not be held due to the heavy ongoing snowfall on the course.

“But we also need to get out of the start gate on one training run in case something happens further along the line and they have to cancel something else,” Knight said.

Two more training sessions are scheduled for Friday and Saturday, and Vonn needs to start at least one session to take part in Sunday’s race. She might only do just one.

“We have to see what the conditions are like,” Knight said. “There’s lots of options.”

Vonn holds the record of 12 World Cup wins in Cortina and has been racing here for nearly a quarter century, since before some of her current competitors were born. She's also come back successfully from injuries of this magnitude before.

“We’re on familiar territory,” Knight said. “That’s always been the most important part of it, going into this whole comeback 18-month project, is that we knew that we would get to a spot where she’s very, very familiar with. … Nothing is unknown apart from what’s just happened.”

There’s also this: Vonn wants to race in honor of her late mother, Lindy, who died in 2022 of ALS, otherwise known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, and her childhood coach, Erich Sailer, who died in August aged 99.

She stopped to visit Sailer’s grave in Austria on her way to Cortina.

“It’s just so many reasons for her to not let go that they’re powering her along and keeping the adrenaline high,” Knight said. “You don’t want to slow down in these situations.”

AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

United States' Lindsey Vonn holds her left knee after crashing, during an alpine ski, women's World Cup downhill, in Crans Montana, Switzerland, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (Jean-Christophe Bott/Keystone via AP)

United States' Lindsey Vonn, Isabella Wright, Mary Bocock and Breezy Johnson, from left, attend a press conference by the U.S. ski team at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

United States' Lindsey Vonn smiles during a press conference by the U.S. ski team at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

United States' Lindsey Vonn approaches the finish area after crashing, during an alpine ski, women's World Cup downhill, in Crans Montana, Switzerland, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (Jean-Christophe Bott/Keystone via AP)

United States' Lindsey Vonn attends a press conference by the U.S. ski team at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

NEW YORK (AP) — The early Bird had to circle Yankee Stadium.

Jake Bird arrived at 8:15 a.m. Friday, more than five hours before the start of his first game in pinstripes. The gate where New York Yankees players usually enter wasn't yet open and he was told to enter from the other side of the ballpark, at Gate 6.

“I just walked around,” the relief pitcher said. "It was a nice foggy morning.”

Eight months after the Yankees acquired him from Colorado, Bird pitched in the Bronx for the first time Friday. He struck out two in a perfect seventh inning of an 8-2 win over the Miami Marlins in New York's home opener.

Bird credited Natalie Girard for recommending he account for possibly congested streets when he called for Uber pickup at his Manhattan hotel.

“My girlfriend is really familiar with New York, so she was kind of telling me, `Hey, there might be traffic in the morning, so you should get there early,'” Bird recalled. “Also, I didn’t really know where to enter the stadium and stuff and I’ve been in that spot before where I kind of got lost, so just it didn’t hurt to get here a little early and kind of familiarize myself with the place.”

Hours later, he entered with a 5-2 lead in the seventh inning. Bird retired Otto Lopez on a flyout, threw a called third strike past Owen Caissie and struck out Connor Norby.

Bird pumped both arms and screamed.

“He had a little emotional release after getting that third out,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “He was, again, really sharp, man, and went right through the middle of their order. Right, left, left was efficient.”

Bird was dealt by the Rockies for a pair of prospects last July 31, made three relief appearances on the road, the last in Texas ending with Josh Jung's three-run, walk-off homer, and was sent to Triple-A for the rest of the season.

“I know last year it didn’t really work out the way he wanted,” Yankees captain Aaron Judge said, “He’s a guy that wants to be here. He wants to be great and I think after going through last year he knows the expectations now and he’s ready to go.”

Bird has allowed one hit over 4 1/3 scoreless innings in four games this season, striking out five and walking none.

“I’m just trying to stay closed and not fly open,” he said. “I know my slider and my breaking balls have been really good and fastball is a weak point at times, so just trying to build on the breaking balls as a strength and trying to improve the fastball, as well.”

An economics major at UCLA, Bird was taken by the Rockies on the fifth round of the 2018 amateur draft and made his big league debut in 2022. He has a 4.68 ERA with 221 strikeouts in 236 2/3 innings.

“Opening day is amazing," he said, “experience it here for the first time was really cool.”

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/mlb

New York Yankees' pitcher Jake Bird walks back to dugout during the sixth inning of a home-opener baseball game against the Miami Marlins, Friday, April 3, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)