Vonn wrote on Instagram that her dog, Leo, died the day after she shattered her leg at the Milan Cortina Games.
“This has been an incredibly hard few days,” she wrote. “Probably the hardest of my life. I still have not come to terms that he is gone.”
“Will be thinking of him when I close my eyes,” she wrote of her beloved pooch. “I will love you forever my big boy.”
Vonn included a touching image gallery of Leo, who had lung cancer after surviving lymphoma and had heart problems, according to the 2010 gold medalist.
Vonn attempted a comeback at the Olympics at age 41 despite rupturing her ACL just days before the Games. Then came her violent tumble in the Milan Cortina Games downhill.
“As I layed in my hospital bed the day after my crash, we said goodbye to my big boy,” she wrote. “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 layed by me, and cuddle me, always making me feel safe and loved. We have been through so much together in 13 years.”
“It’s going to be a while before I emotionally process things but I know he will always be with me. 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. And I take solace knowing he’s not in pain anymore.
“There will never be another Leo. He will always be my first love,” she continued.
