Lindsey Vonn is mourning a personal loss just days after suffering a painful crash at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy. The Olympic skier revealed that her beloved dog Leo died one day after her fall during the women’s downhill event.
Vonn, 41, shared the news on Instagram on February 18, writing that she had to say “goodbye to my big boy” while recovering in a hospital bed overseas.
“Leo has passed away and joined Lucy and Bear up in heaven 🪽,” Vonn wrote. “This has been an incredibly hard few days. Probably the hardest of life. I still have not come to terms that he is gone…”
Lindsey Vonn Details Leo’s Death After Olympic Crash
Vonn explained that Leo, 13, experienced heart failure on February 8, the same day she crashed while competing on a torn ACL. Leo had recently been diagnosed with lung cancer. He died the following day.
“He was in pain and his body could no longer keep up with his strong mind,” Vonn wrote. “I had lost so much that meant something to me in such a short amount of time. I can’t believe it.”
Vonn said Leo had been by her side for more than a decade, including through previous injuries.
“My boy has been with me since my second ACL injury, when I needed him most,” she wrote. “He held me on the sofa as I watched the Sochi Olympics. He lifted me up when I was down. He laid by me, and cuddled me, always making me feel safe and loved. We have been through so much together in 13 years.”
She added that she finds comfort in knowing Leo is reunited with her late mother, Linda, who died in 2022, as well as with her dogs, Lucy and Bear.
“I know he’s up there with Lucy and Bear and my mom and grandparents and so many people I have lost in the past few years,” she wrote. “There will never be another Leo. He will always be my first love.”
Vonn’s 2026 Olympic Crash and Recovery
Vonn’s loss came after a frightening crash during the women’s downhill event at the 2026 Winter Olympics. Just 13 seconds into her run, her right ski pole became caught in a course marker. She lost her balance and tumbled down the mountain.
Broadcast audio captured Vonn yelling, “Oh my God,” as medical personnel rushed to assist her. Officials placed her on a stretcher and airlifted her off the course.
Vonn had announced her return to competition in November 2024 after previously retiring. She entered the Games already managing a torn ACL.
The Olympic champion recently returned to the United States after undergoing multiple surgeries on her leg in Italy.
In her Instagram message, she noted she was scheduled for another procedure and said she would “be thinking of him when I close my eyes.”
Vonn had previously spoken about losing another dog, Lucy, earlier in the year. In an interview with People at the Milan-Cortina Olympics preview,
Lindsey Vonn Announces Devastating Loss After Returning Home From Disappointing Olympics