US skier TJ Lanning has surgery to fuse 2 vertebrae in neck after last week’s downhill crash

US skier Lanning has surgery to fuse 2 vertebrae

VAIL, Colo. — The U.S. Ski Team says TJ Lanning had surgery to fuse two vertebrae in his neck to stabilize a fracture he sustained when he crashed in a World Cup downhill.

The 25-year-old Lanning, from Park City, Utah, fractured a vertebra his neck and dislocated his left knee in the crash at Lake Louise, Alberta, on Saturday. He was transported to a hospital in Calgary and then to Vail. The operation was Wednesday night.

Team medical director Richard Quincy said on Thursday that the surgery is “typical” for this type of injury and that it is designed to “create stability, allowing the fracture to heal more safely.”

Lanning’s U.S. teammates have visited him in the hospital while they are in nearby Beaver Creek for World Cup racing.