‘An incredibly hard few days’: Lindsey Vonn says her dog died a day after she crashed

Skier Lindsey Vonn said her 13-year-old dog, Leo, died just one day after she crashed and broke her left leg in the Olympic downhill at the Milan Cortina Games.

Vonn took to social media on Wednesday to share the news, saying it “has been an incredibly hard few days,” possible the hardest of her life.

“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,” Vonn wrote on Instagram.

“He was in pain and his body could no longer keep up with his strong mind,” she added. “As I layed in my hospital bed the day after my crash, we said goodbye to my big boy.”

Vonn’s post included a carousel of photos. A few of the images featured her snuggling with Leo, as well as showed them together outside.

In other photos, Leo posed for the camera, while two videos captured him as he played in the snow.

“I still have not come to terms that he is gone,” she wrote.

Vonn, who is back home in the U.S. following a week of treatment at a hospital in Italy, suffered a complex tibia fracture that has already been operated on multiple times following her February 8 crash.

She said Leo has been with her since her second ACL injury in 2013, adding that he comforted her while they watched the 2014 Sochi Olympics from her couch.

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, ITALY – FEBRUARY 06: Lindsey Vonn of Team United States skis during the Women’s Downhill training on day zero of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics at Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre on February 06, 2026 in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)

“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 wrote.

Vonn said she knows Leo is now in heaven her two other dogs, Lucy and Bear, along with her mother, grandparents, and “so many people I have lost in the past few years.”

She said while she is still emotionally processing his passing, it gives her solace that he’s not in pain anymore.

“There will never be another Leo,” she said. “He will always be my first love.”

Vonn said she is set to undergo another surgery on Wednesday, adding that she will be thinking about Leo.

“I will love you forever my big boy,” she wrote.

Nine days before her fall in Italy, Vonn ruptured the ACL in her left knee in another crash in Switzerland. Even before then, all eyes had been on her as the feel-good story heading into the Olympics for her comeback after nearly six years of retirement.

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EDITOR’S NOTE: The Associated Press contributed to this report.