Brignone still unsure if she will be fit for Winter Games

Italian ski star Federica Brignone said on Tuesday she was unsure if she would be fit for next year’s Winter Olympics which are being held in Italy.

Brignone, who turns 35 in July, won the alpine ski World Cup overall title and World Championship giant slalom gold last season but suffered a career-threatening double leg fracture in her last race in April.

“I’d like to be able to say that I’ll definitely be at the start of the next Winter Olympics, but today I don’t know,” Brignone told a press briefing in Turin. 

The Games are being hosted by Milan Cortina next February. 

“I’m going to try, I’m doing everything I can, but the most important thing for me is to get better and then come back to ski racing,” she said. 

“The Olympics are a great source of motivation, it’s true that there’s still time between now and the Olympics, but time is running out.” 

The Italian dominated the 2024-25 season on the women’s circuit, winning 10 races, her second overall World Cup title and both the giant slalom and downhill crystal globes.

Brignone suffered a double tibia-fibula fracture in her left leg on April 3 during the Italian Championships. 

She said she does not know when she’ll be able to resume training on snow. 

“As long as I can’t put my foot down, it’s hard to say, I’ll only put skis back on when I’m well, not to be on one leg,” she said. 

During an operation on her broken leg, surgeons noticed a ligament tear in her left knee. 

“We’re not worried about the cruciate ligament,” Italian Winter Sports Federation doctor Andrea Panzeri, who is overseeing Brignone’s rehabilitation, said on Tuesday.

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