The past ski season claimed many victims, including some of the absolute top cracks. Some are on the road to recovery, for others things are still not looking particularly good ahead of the start of the season. An overview.
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- In the last ski winter, many of the top athletes in both the men's and women's categories suffered serious injuries.
- Some of them are on the verge of a comeback, while for others the healing process is taking a long time.
- Several Swiss men and women, and a particularly large number of Swiss women, are also affected.
This is the situation for the male ski stars
Aleksander Aamodt Kilde
Aleksander Aamodt Kilde celebrates his 32nd birthday on September 21. The Norwegian is probably wishing for one thing above all: good health. Because the superstar is still suffering from the consequences of his brutal fall last January. Most recently, an infection in his shoulder, which was operated on in the spring, has set him back again.
Marco Schwarz
Marco Schwarz shone in all disciplines last season and is considered Marco Odermatt's biggest rival in the battle for the big crystal globe. At the end of December, however, the Austrian suffered a torn cruciate ligament and had to end the season. Blacky is now slowed down again on his way back. Due to a disc injury, he had to have an operation in August and miss the training camp in Chile. The 29-year-old is unlikely to be at the start of the season in Sölden at the end of October.
Alexis Pinturault
Former overall World Cup winner Alexis Pinturault crashes heavily in the super-G in Wengen and tears his cruciate ligament. At least this gives him more time to look after his daughter Olympe, who was born shortly before his fatal fall. The 33-year-old Frenchman returns to skiing at the end of August and will travel to South America in mid-September. His goal is to start at the races in Beaver Creek in December.
Marco Kohler
Last year, Marco Kohler crashes badly for the second time in his career in Wengen and, like the first time, suffers nasty knee injuries. At the end of August, he announced on Instagram that he had made peace with the Lauberhorn and was one step closer to his comeback. Prior to this, the 26-year-old posted pictures of himself training on the slopes.
Franjo von Allmen
The Swiss discovery of last winter, Franjo von Allmen, is currently forced to take a break due to an injury to his right knee joint and is unable to take part in the training camp in Chile. The speed skiers' season opener is on December 6, by which time the 23-year-old, who raced to the podium in the Super-G in Garmisch-Partenkirchen last season, should be fit again.
Vlhova and Goggia on their way back
Petra Vlhova
Superstar Petra Vlhova injured the cruciate ligament and collateral ligament in her right knee last January. After a seven-month break, the Slovakian is now back on the slopes. The giant slalom in Sölden at the start of the season may still come too soon, but a start in the first slalom of the winter on November 16 in Levi seems possible.
Sofia Goggia
In February, Sofia Goggia crashes during training and fractures her tibia and fibula. The 31-year-old Italian undergoes surgery and is back on skis soon afterwards. After the hard summer training, she should be back at the start in Beaver Creek. It remains to be seen whether the four-time downhill World Cup winner (2017/18, 2020/21, 2021/22, 2022/23) will regain her old strength.
This is the situation for the Swiss women
Wendy Holdener
In December, Holdener suffered a fracture in her left ankle after a fall in training. Although she was back on the boards two months later, she ended the season early. In February, her brother Kevin dies of cancer, a heavy blow of fate. However, she wants to get back into full swing next winter.
Corinne Suter
After a serious accident in January, the 2022 Olympic downhill champion has to end the season early. In the downhill in Cortina d'Ampezzo, where she will become world champion in 2021, she hit a bump and landed without falling, but screamed all the louder in pain. Torn cruciate ligament in her left knee and an injury to the inner meniscus, according to the diagnosis. She cried a lot in the first few days, she recalls recently. It is still uncertain when she will return to the World Cup. However, she wants to return at all costs - but without losing patience.
Joana Hählen
The 32-year-old, who has been skiing without anterior cruciate ligaments for years, also suffered a serious knee injury in the downhill in Cortina d'Ampezzo last season. She is currently preparing for the 2024/25 World Championship season with the Swiss women's team in Ushuaia (Argentina). At the end of August, she posted a video on Instagram and wrote: "Finally jumping again!"
Aline Danioth
On February 18, 2023, Danioth races to 6th place in the World Championship slalom. The blue Sport expert at the time, Sonja Nef, raves: "Great, she's showing her talent once again. She also has a killer instinct. She tore her cruciate ligament three times and always fought her way back." You just have to hope that she stays healthy, "then she'll give us a lot of pleasure". Around two weeks later, Danioth tears her cruciate ligament for the fourth time! "It feels like a nightmare," the now 26-year-old begins an emotional Instagram post at the time. She then takes a long time to recover, but wants to get back on track in the World Cup soon.
Nicole Good
In April, Nicole Good crashed heavily at the Swiss Championships in Davos and was left motionless. The race was then abandoned. The 26-year-old suffers a concussion as well as fractures and abrasions to her face. "I'm doing very well under the circumstances. Thank you for all the kind messages," she wrote two days later under a photo from the hospital. The slalom specialist is now back in full swing. If everything goes according to plan, she will be at the start of the slalom season opener in Levi in November.
Jasmine Flury
Jasmine Flury, the 2023 downhill world champion, turns 31 on September 16. In mid-February, she injured herself in Crans-Montana without crashing. "I skied to the finish and felt something was wrong as I was coming down. Afterwards, I ran out of the finish line with almost no pain. But when I went down to the hotel, I realized that running up the stairs in particular was almost impossible," she recently toldBlick. An MRI revealed that part of the right knee cartilage had broken off. The doctor told her that "a cruciate ligament rupture would have been easier". She has an operation in March, she is not back on the snow yet, and the speed training camp is also too early. "The World Championships in Saalbach in February are motivating me. But for the time being, my knee is setting the pace."
