Italy's ski star Brignone takes on 'new challenge' after serious leg injury / Photo: Patrick T. Fallon - AFP/File
-
KFF Health News Reporters Discuss ACA Enrollment Challenges, Rising Costs, and Measles Risks
-
Dell Announces AI-Integrated PC Lineup for 2026 with Wi-Fi 7 Support
-
Gabriel Announces Dismissal of ICSID Annulment Application
-
Kai Widdrington Withdraws from Strictly Come Dancing Due to Illness; Aljaž Škorjanec Steps In
-
Amr Diab Announces First London Headline Show at The O2 in December 2026
-
Henan Grave Carved with Herbal Prescriptions Draws Hundreds of Visitors Daily
-
Masdar Completes $950M Lockhart Solar and Storage Project in California
Italy's ski star Brignone takes on 'new challenge' after serious leg injury
Italy's newly-crowned overall World Cup ski champion Federica Brignone said the double leg fracture she sustained just 11 months out from a home Winter Olympics was a "new challenge" she would take on "as always".
"I'm going to have to face a new challenge, which I will rise to, as always," Brignone said after undergoing surgery on Thursday.
Brignone has been relatively unscathed in a blessed career but while competing in her last race of the winter at the Italian championships she suffered a heavy fall in the Alpe Lussia ski area in Val di Fassa in north-eastern Italy.
After several wild somersaults with both skis flying off she was helped to the sidelines and carried down the mountain on a sled before being taken to hospital by helicopter.
After the double fracture was diagnosed she was then transferred to a Milan clinic for an operation during which surgeons noticed she was also suffering from a left knee ACL tear.
Brignone said of her crash: "The conditions on the slopes were perfect. I felt good, and if I could go back, I would do the same thing, but... trying not to fall.
"As usual, I never do things by halves and here I did them in a negative way. Thank you to all those who wrote to me, I am lucky to have a lot of friends who keep me company and make me laugh."
The length of Brignone's recovery time is unknown. The Italian ski federation said she had already started a phase of "assisted rehabilitation".
Andrea Panzeri, who heads the Italian Winter Sports Federation's medical commission, has warned the recovery time will take "months".
Brignone dominated the 2024-25 season on the women's circuit, winning 10 races, her second overall World Cup title and the giant slalom and downhill small crystal globes.
She also won the world championship gold medal in the giant slalom and a super-G silver in Saalbach.
The skier from Val d'Aosta has won three Olympic medals but never a gold and is one of Italy's strongest medal chances at the 2026 Olympics in Milan-Cortina.
D.Johnson--AT
