Lindsey Vonn says she suffered complex leg fracture during downhill race at the Winter Olympics

TREVISO, Italy (NBC, KYMA) - Lindsey Vonn said she suffered a complex leg fracture in Sunday's downhill race at the Milan Cortina Olympics that will require multiple surgical operation

The 41-year-old added, in an Instagram post, she had no regrets and that her anterior cruciate ligament rupture and other past injuries were not linked to the fall in her bid to win the gold, which went to her U.S. teammate Breezy Johnson.

Vonn, the second most successful female World Cup skier of all time with 84 wins, has had two operations in italy, a source said, to stabilize her after an horrific crash 13 seconds into one of the most hotly anticipated races at the winter olympics.

Vonn, who ruptured her ACL in a crash at a World Cup race in Switzerland 10 days ago, wrote, "Yesterday, my Olympic dream did not finish the way I dreamt it would. It wasn't a story book ending or a fairy tale, it was just life. I dared to dream and had worked so hard to achieve it."

She added: "Unfortunately, I sustained a complex tibia fracture that is currently stable but will require multiple surgeries to fix properly. While yesterday did not end the way I had hoped, and despite the intense physical pain it caused, I have no regrets."

Vonn's crash has highlighted a broader debate in elite sport over who decides when an injured athlete is fit to compete and what message those decisions send.

Vonn, the 2010 Olympic champion, had been hoping to become the oldest alpine skiing medallist in games history after winning two World Cups this year and finishing on the podium in the other three.

She leads the downhill skiing World Cup standings by 144 points and, while her season is over, she could still win the category's crystal globe.

Vonn, who said nothing about her future, strongly felt she had a chance to win Sunday's race on a piste where she has claimed 12 world cup wins.

"I tried. I dreamt. I jumped," she said in the post.