Olympic comeback queen Brignone ends ski season

Italian ski great Federica Brignone, who came back from injury to win two gold medals at last month’s Winter Olympics, announced on Monday she had ended her campaign for this season.

The 35-year-old won the overall World Cup title last season but suffered a double leg fracture and a tear of her left anterior cruciate ligament in April 2025.

After 10 months out of action, she returned to the World Cup circuit in January and went on to win gold in Cortina in the super-G and giant slalom.

She has now revealed that she will take part in neither of the two remaining World Cup legs nor the finals in Norway from March 21 to 25.

“I think I’ve asked a lot of my body over these past months,” said Brignone.

“From the very day I got injured, I devoted myself entirely to the goal of competing at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympics, achieving the double result of carrying the Italian flag and stepping onto the podium.

“I even managed it twice, and on top of that I stood on the highest step of the podium. I tried to continue the season, but now my body is presenting me with the bill.

“So I’m taking advantage of a season that’s now drawing to a close to give myself a break and then continue my rehabilitation in the best possible way, which was inevitably rushed throughout this period in order to achieve the miracle we managed to pull off.”

Brignoni had no chance of retaining her overall World Cup title as she sits outside the top 50, over 1,000 points behind leader Mikaela Shiffrin.