Lindsey Vonn Leaves Door Open For Ski Return After Horrific Injury Following Crash

Lindsey Vonn almost lost her leg after her gnarly Olympic crash, but the ski great says she may not be done hitting the slopes ... saying she doesn't want her legacy to end on that "horrible last run."

The legendary American alpine ski racer spoke with Vanity Fair for her first interview since the February incident ... where Vonn detailed the insane pain she went through as doctors attempted to treat a severely broken leg, ankle, and other injuries, which required multiple surgeries.

Tom Hackett, the head physician for Team USA Ski and Snowboard, said Vonn was in agony and wasn't responding to "monster amounts of fentanyl, morphine, oxycodone, like every narcotic you can imagine."

It wasn’t just the physical pain ... the situation weighed on her mentally, too, knowing her career could end on such a brutal fall.

That said, Lindsey's not shutting the door on a comeback.

"I don’t like to close the door on anything, because you just never know what’s going to happen," Vonn said.

"I have no idea what my life will be like in two years or three years or four years. I could have two kids by then. I could have no kids and want to race again. I could live in Europe. I could be doing anything."

"It’s hard to tell with this injury. It’s so f***** up. I really feel like that was a horrible last run to end my career on ... I only made it 13 seconds. But they were a really good 13 seconds."

Even at the age of 41, her physical therapist, Lindsay Winninger, said she was in "peak physical condition" heading into the Winter Olympics ... another reason she may not be ready to call it quits.

"I don’t want people to hang on this crash and be remembered for that," Vonn said.

"What I did before the Olympics has never been done before. I was number one in the standings. No one remembers that I was winning."

For the time being, Vonn is still bandaged up and using a wheelchair to recover at her home in Park City, Utah, but has already returned to the gym.