Ski racing claims many victims year after year. For many, the season is therefore already over, while others are still absent due to injuries from the previous season. An overview from December 30, 2024.
🇨🇭 Switzerland
Arnaud Boisset
In the downhill in Beaver Creek on December 6, Arnaud Boisset crashes shortly before the finish. The 26-year-old hits his head hard on the piste and suffers a concussion and bruising in the shoulder area. It remains to be seen when he will return to the World Cup. On December 21, he posts a video showing how he gets back on his skis and makes a few turns.
🇨🇭 Switzerland
Urs Kryenbühl
Urs Kryenbühl suffers another serious injury during downhill training in Beaver Creek. The unlucky 30-year-old has suffered a "complex knee injury", reported Swiss Ski.
🇨🇭 Switzerland
Jasmine Flury
Jasmine Flury's season comes to an abrupt end in February 2024. Two days after finishing third on the podium in the first downhill in Crans-Montana, the Davos native has to declare a forfeit for the super-G at the same venue. In the race beforehand, she suffered a blow to her knee and the subsequent examinations revealed cartilage damage, which had to be treated surgically. Hope remains that she will be able to return soon.
🇨🇭 Switzerland
Josua Mettler
Josua Mettler is seriously injured in downhill training in Bormio. The 26-year-old tears the anterior cruciate ligament in both knees and tears the medial collateral ligament and medial meniscus. The season is over for him, but he hasn't lost his motivation as a post he made on Instagram on December 29 proves.
🇨🇭 Switzerland
Gino Caviezel
Gino Caviezel, who starts with the number 1, has a serious accident in the Super-G on the Stelvio in Bormio and is flown to Switzerland by Rega. The dislocated shoulder is set again, but the "complex knee injury" is likely to keep him out of action for longer.
🇨🇭 Switzerland
Andrea Ellenberger
Andrea Ellenberger's serious training crash before the World Cup race in Semmering has resulted in the premature end of her season. The 31-year-old from Nidwalden suffered a lower leg fracture, a sprained knee and several severe bruises between Christmas and New Year. It does not seem unlikely that Ellenberger will even end her career after this latest setback.
🇨🇭 Switzerland
Niels Hintermann
In October, Niels Hintermann is diagnosed with lymphatic cancer. In an interview with the NZZ newspaper a few days ago, Hintermann talks about the worst days of his life. On Christmas Eve, he completed his cancer treatment with the last radiation treatment.
🇫🇷 France
Cyprien Sarrazin
Cyprien Sarrazin is regarded as one of the best speed skiers in the World Cup. Last year, he won the prestigious downhill in Bormio as well as both Kitzbühel downhills and the super-G in Wengen. However, the recent accident marks a dramatic turning point in his career. After the terrible crash, in which Sarrazin suffered an intracranial hematoma, he had to undergo emergency surgery. His condition is considered stable, but it is still uncertain when the 30-year-old will return to the racetrack, assuming his health allows it.
🇮🇹 Italy
Pietro Zazzi
Pietro Zazzi crashes in the same place as Sarrazin. The 30-year-old Italian breaks his tibia and fibula.
🇺🇲 USA
Mikaela Shiffrin
At the end of November, Mikaela Shiffrin crashes in the giant slalom in Killington on the way to her 100th World Cup victory and tears her oblique abdominal muscles. She undergoes a minor operation in Colorado at the end of December to treat the injury. It is assumed that the 29-year-old American will be able to return this winter.
🇸🇰 Slovakia
Petra Vlhova
Petra Vlhova tears her cruciate and medial ligaments during her home race in Jasna on January 20, 2024. Her right knee is apparently still causing her problems and so the Olympic slalom champion will not return until February at the earliest.
🇮🇹 Italy
Guglielmo Bosca
The Italian Guglielmo Bosca crashes in the second training run for the first World Cup downhill of the winter in Beaver Creek and suffers a complicated fracture to his right fibula. The 31-year-old Bosca's best result is 2nd place in the first of two Super-Gs in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in January 2024.
🇳🇱 Netherlands
Marcel Hirscher
At the age of 30, Marcel Hirscher, one of the most successful skiers of all time, ended his career in 2019. He makes his comeback for the 2024/25 season, but now competes for the Netherlands instead of Austria. But his season is already over. The eight-time overall World Cup winner tears his cruciate ligament during a right-hand turn in training. Although the operation is successful, it is questionable whether the 35-year-old will return or declare his career over for a second time.
🇦🇹 Austria
Daniel Danklmaier
In the super-G in Val Gardena/Gröden, the Austrian skier gets stuck at high speed and falls. According to the ÖSV diagnosis, the 31-year-old suffers "severe bone bruising on both knees", but is spared any torn ligaments or other serious injuries. Nevertheless, the injury means a forced break of six to eight weeks, which jeopardizes his participation in the home World Championships in Saalbach in February 2025.
🇦🇹 Austria
Lukas Feurstein
In Beaver Creek, Lukas Feurstein finishes third in the Super-G behind Marco Odermatt and Cyprien Sarrazin. In Saalbach, the 23-year-old breaks a metacarpal bone in the giant slalom. Despite the injury, he takes part in the super-G in Val Gardena/Gröden, but gives up due to severe pain. After a successful operation, he plans to return to World Cup action in January, provided the healing process goes as hoped.
🇦🇹 Austria
Max Franz
Max Franz, who suffered a brutal fall and serious injury during downhill training before the start of the 2022/23 season, is still working on his comeback and regularly posts pictures from his training sessions. Meanwhile, it is uncertain when the 35-year-old will actually be back at the start of a race.
🇬🇷 Greece
AJ Ginnis
Greek slalom specialist AJ Ginnis announces the end of his season in mid-December due to persistent knee problems. The 30-year-old is having surgery and will not be able to defend his 2023 World Championship silver medal. "I don't know what to say. I'm hugely disappointed," he told Skinews.ch. Ginnis will be the first Greek ever to finish on the World Cup podium in Chamonix in 2023.
🇩🇪 Germany
Sebastian Holzmann
At the beginning of December, German slalom specialist Sebastian Holzmann tears his cruciate ligament. The 31-year-old posted emotional words on Instagram afterwards: "I've just woken up from my cruciate ligament operation. Not a dream, but a nightmare come true. The physical pain is limited, but inside, inside I'm not feeling well at the moment. I know from my last injury how hard it is and that this pain will subside, but this time it's just worse." But giving up is not an option.
🇩🇪 Germany
Simon Jocher
On Saturday, Simon Jocher suffers a severe contusion to his right heel bone in the downhill in Bormio, and a fracture cannot be ruled out for the time being. Jocher describes the situation on the jump that proved to be his undoing: "I realized he was going really far. When I landed, I immediately felt a stitch in my heel." It is uncertain how long the 28-year-old German will be out of action.
🇳🇴 Norway
Aleksander Aamodt Kilde
Kilde crashes in Wengen last season and injures himself badly. The pictures went around the world - and got under his skin. Kilde recovers less quickly than hoped and has to go under the knife again in the summer due to an infection in his shoulder. In December, he is back on the boards for the first time since his horror fall and he enjoys it. However, the 32-year-old is still a long way from being able to compete in the World Cup. He is flirting with a comeback for the new season.
🇮🇹 Italy
Tommaso Sala
The 29-year-old Italian slalom specialist ruptures a cruciate ligament in his left knee during training in Val Senales and misses the whole season.
🇩🇪 Germany
Andreas Sander
In October, Sander reveals that he is suffering from a serious cell disease. It is uncertain when he will be able to ski competitively again. In the worst-case scenario, the illness could put an end to his career; in the best-case scenario, the 35-year-old could return to the start line in January.
🇩🇪 Germany
Alexander Schmid
Parallel slalom world champion Alexander Schmid tears his cruciate ligament in December. The season is over for the 30-year-old.
The lucky "victims"
Luckily, skiers get off lightly from time to time, even if they land in the snow or, like Marco Odermatt recently, avoid a fall in extremis. And of course, the airbag can also play its part in making skiing a little bit safer - but even the best airbag can't prevent knee and head injuries.
