Lindsey Vonn Ends Season After Knee Fractures

American skier Lindsey Vonn, ranked first in the overall World Cup standings, announced on Facebook that she has decided to end her season due to three fractures in her knee.

Lindsey Vonn Ends Season After Knee Fractures

Von suffered the injuries after crashing Saturday in Andorra during a super-G race. She was carried off the mountain on a rescue sled. The original X-rays indicated a hairline fracture in her left knee, where the tibial plateau was stable and would permit her to compete. Vonn placed 13th in an Alpine Combine Sunday, and received the news of her fractures after undergoing an MRI and CT scan in Barcelona.

“Because I am currently leading the Overall World Cup standings, this is one of the toughest decisions of my career,” Vonn wrote. “With the World Championships in St. Moritz next year and the Winter Olympics in South Korea the following year, I cannot take that risk.”

Vonn, 31, holds a slim 28-point lead over her primary rival for the overall title, Swiss skier Lara Gut. She has had a great season thus far, clinching the downhill season-long title last month and breaking Annemarie Moser-Proell’s record for most World Cup downhill victories with her 37th in Italy in January. Vonn also became the first skier to win 20 crystal globes in her career.

“Of all the records this year that I’m breaking, it’s still really hard to process what I’m doing,” Vonn said after claiming the downhill title. “I won’t fully grasp the magnitude of everything until I’m done with my career.”

The skier has 76 world cup victories and is nearing the record of 86 held by Ingemar Stenmark of Sweden.

This weekend, the women’s World Cup tour travels to Jasna, Slovakia, for a giant slalom and slalom.

This season has seen several top skiers out because of injuries, including American Ted Ligety, Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway, and Anna Fenninger of Austria.

Vonn, who broke up with golfer Tiger Woods just last year, recently caused a stir after a pictorial in the Sports Illustrated showed her wearing nothing more than body paint.