By Frank Pingue
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb 4 (Reuters) – New England Patriots wide receiver Stefon Diggs expressed confidence that American skiing great Lindsey Vonn can compete at the Milano Cortina Olympics despite a ruptured ACL, drawing on his own experience with the devastating injury.
The 41-year-old Vonn, who captured Olympic downhill gold in 2010, revealed this week that she had ruptured her anterior cruciate ligament in a crash during a World Cup event last Friday.
But Vonn plans to ski in the Olympics wearing a brace, with her first event scheduled for Sunday — the same day Diggs will make his Super Bowl debut against the Seattle Seahawks in Santa Clara, California.
Diggs, who suffered a torn ACL in October 2024 during his lone season with the Houston Texans, offered perspective when asked about Vonn’s situation on Wednesday.
“I hope her surgery, when she does get it, goes successfully,” Diggs told reporters.
“It’s crazy that anybody who’s torn their ACL, they know like a week or a couple of days maybe sometimes, people can run. People can do like whatever they need to do once they get the swelling out.”
Diggs explained the unique nature of the injury: “It’s kind of like a weird injury. Like as long as you’re not cutting and like decelerating, I think she should be fine.”
The veteran receiver was fully cleared for practice less than nine months after his injury, having already signed a three-year contract with New England during his recovery.
Diggs, who is the top receiver on a Patriots team that went from last in their division a year ago to a Super Bowl berth, was full of admiration for Vonn’s determination.
“If she’s at the Olympics, she’s obviously an amazing athlete, so shout outs to her,” said Diggs.
“Her mental toughness and whatever she’s going through, hopefully she can go out there and give it her best because as long as she doesn’t have to stop and decelerate, I think she’ll be all right.
“So fingers crossed for her and, you know, I hope it goes well.”
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in San FranciscoEditing by Toby Davis)
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