Skier Lindsey Vonn is grieving a personal loss just days after her Olympic comeback was derailed by a devastating crash.
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The 41-year-old shared the heartbreaking news of her 13-year-old dog Leo’s passing on Instagram on Feb. 18. From a hospital bed overseas in Italy, she wrote, “goodbye to my big boy.”
“Leo has passed away and joined Lucy and Bear up in heaven 🪽,” she wrote alongside a slew of snapshots of her and her beloved pet. “This has been an incredibly hard few days. Probably the hardest o[f] life. I still have not come to terms that he is gone…”
Vonn shared that on Feb. 8, the same day she crashed during the women’s downhill event, her dog, Leo, also had a health emergency. He began experiencing heart failure following a recent lung cancer diagnosis and died the next day.
“He was in pain, and his body could no longer keep up with his strong mind,” she explained. “I had lost so much that meant something to me in such a short amount of time. I can’t believe it. My boy has been with me since my second ACL injury, when I needed him most. 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 cuddle[d] me, always making me feel safe and loved. We have been through so much together in 13 years.”
Lindsey Vonn Also Revealed She’s Undergoing Yet Another Surgery
Vonn, who recently returned to the United States after undergoing multiple surgeries on her leg in Italy, said it will be a while before she can “emotionally process things,” but knows that her pet “will always be with me.”
She also finds comfort in knowing Leo is now with her mother, Linda, who passed away in 2022. He is also reunited with her late 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,” Vonn wrote. “I take [peace] knowing he’s not in pain anymore. There will never be another Leo. He will always be my first love.”
Vonn concluded her message by sharing that she would undergo yet another surgery that day and said, she would “be thinking of him when I close my eyes.”
“I will love you forever, my big boy 🤍,” she added.
Of course, fans and friends alike flooded the comments section to show their support for Lindsey Vonn.
Among them was fellow Olympic athlete Alise Willoughby.
“Wow. When it rains, it absolutely freaking pours. 😢 I am so sorry to hear about Leo and the weight you’re carrying right now. Time and your incredible strength will help heal the hurt of these wounds. Thinking of you, friend,” Willoughby wrote.