Sports Medicine > > Elite Sports– “It's something to seriously think about for professional athletes that have a great deal of knee issues,” stated Vonn
by Associated Press December 24, 2024
ST. MORITZ, Switzerland– When Lindsey Vonn last raced on the World Cup circuit almost 6 years earlier, the consistent discomfort in her knee left her in tears and caused retirement.
Flash forward to Vonn's resurgence race on a titanium knee at age 40 last weekend, and the American snowboarding standout could not have actually felt more various.
No more discomfort. No more swelling. No more tears.
“The last couple of years of my profession were a lot various than they are right now. I'm snowboarding without thinking of my knee, which I actually have not done because I initially tore my ACL in 2013. It's been a long time that I felt this excellent,” Vonn stated Saturday after putting 14th in a super-G in St. Moritz. “I'm a bit older, however truthfully I'm a hell of a lot more powerful than I as soon as was.”
Much more powerful that she's talking up her knee replacement surgical treatment– the very first of its kind in World Cup snowboarding– as a brand-new frontier for the sport.
In April, Vonn had a robot-assisted replacement carried out by Martin Roche, MD, a South Florida-based orthopedist focusing on intricate knee conditions. Part of the bone in her best knee was cut off and changed by 2 titanium pieces. A month later on, she was preparing her return.
“It's a lot much better than my non-existent cartilage,” stated Vonn, among the most effective skiers of perpetuity with 82 World Cup wins. “I've talked with a great deal of skiers currently about it and I truly believe that it might be something that needs to be thought about.”
“I feel incredible. I indicate, undoubtedly not everybody reacts the very same method to surgical treatments. For some factor, I recuperate quite well from surgical treatment. I believe it's something to seriously think about for professional athletes that have a lot of knee issues.”
Knee Replacements Are Usually Reserved for Older People
Andrea Panzeri, MD, the Italian Winter Sports Federation's head doctor and an orthopedist who has actually run many times on Vonn's buddy and fellow downhiller, Sofia Goggia, stated knee replacements are generally carried out on clients older than 50.
“This is certainly the very first time in World Cup history that such a young professional athlete has actually raced with one,” Panzeri informed the Associated Press“And I'm not knowledgeable about any other elite-level professional athletes in other sports taking on one, either.”
Panzeri carries out knee replacements. He had actually never ever even believed about doing one on a World Cup skier– up until he saw Vonn completing with one.
“Partial prosthetics, like the half-knee ones, are absolutely the ones that use the very best efficiency and we're seeing that [with Vonn],” Panzeri stated. “I do not believe her choice is going to alter professional sports.
