Torn ACL To Tearing Moguls: Landon Wendler On Making It To Milan
In December 2024, Landon Wendler cranked a cork 7 in a World Cup training run. It’s a jump he’s done so many times it’s muscle memory. But when he landed, something immediately felt wrong.
"I landed a cork 7 like normal. At a World Cup the day before the event and just felt my tibia and my femur hit each other."
He skied to the bottom, decided he was fine, and got ready to compete the next day.
Then came a week of strength training and PT in Sweden. Then five more days of World Cup competition. Every jump, every landing, and every turn on a completely torn ACL. He just didn't know it yet.
"I did alright, not great. I didn't make any finals, but I did my best with the amount of pain that I was in. And then I flew home for an MRI, just thinking like…oh, it's probably not a big deal. Like, I have the Olympics coming up in a year."
The MRI was a big deal. Surgery was immediately scheduled for early January 2025.
"I vividly remember thinking. Okay, there's always a little setback here or there, but if it goes perfect…I can get back to skiing and get to competing just in time to try to qualify.”
The Olympics were just over a year away.
"To every athlete out there…you never think something like that's gonna happen to you. You train so hard to not have that happen, and to keep yourself healthy. And even for me, I didn't even crash. I didn't even think it was anything. And it can happen to anybody."
Four Surgeries, One Finish Line
Wendler’s silver lining was that he went through the recovery process alongside three fellow Team USA athletes: Stacey Gaskill, Liz Lemley, and Rell Harwood. Through their collective four surgeries and four parallel rehabs, they all were chasing one finish line. The Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games.
"The biggest part for me was just showing up every day to get back to where I wanted to go. To get the highs, you have to go through the lows. And during the lows, my future goals keep me inspired to keep going."
All four made Team USA.
When thinking about his “wow this is really happening” moment, Wendler talks about this shared experience.
"Just being at the Games with Stacey, Liz, and Rell…for the four of us to be at the Olympics and talk to each other, hang out, see each other in the village…especially after what we went through…was super special to me."
Let's Go Lando
In qualification, Wendler was the last American man in the gate. His pre-run ritual is to blast music as loud as it'll go in one ear to create a wall of sound between him and everything else. The crowd in Livigno had other ideas.
"I was up there and could just hear the crowd chanting. Even with the volume on full blast in one year, I couldn’t even hear my music. The crowd was so loud. It really was electric.”
Then came finals. Let's go, Lando.
"When we went into finals, it was the same thing — in the start gate, I remember hearing chants of let’s go Lando, let's go Lando. And I got chills and got so nervous. But it was one of the most insane moments of my life to hear so many friends and family cheering for me like that."
Photo Credit: Amy Wotovich / Back The Team
That's what Steamboat travels for.
The Flag Wall
There's a hall in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, tucked inside the Winter Sports Club, where the flags live. One flag for every Olympian. Name, year, Games. Landon Wendler grew up staring at that wall.
"We would always have meetings in there," he said, "and it was like…you'd see all these names. The Olympic spirit was always kind of around."
Steamboat claims more Olympians per capita than any city in the United States. The culture of going to the Olympics isn't aspirational. It’s just...well, normal.
ABOUT THIS SERIES
I’m Amy Wotovich and I am on a mission to interview 100% of Team USA's 2026 Olympic and Paralympic athletes to create the most comprehensive mindset record of a single Games cycle. What do elite competitors actually believe about pressure, identity, failure, and joy? Landon Wendler is one of hundreds of athletes sharing their unfiltered answers. Follow the journey!
