Liensberger to Miss Olympics Due to Latest Serious Skiing Accident

Austrian Skier Katharina Liensberger to Miss Milano Cortina Winter Games Due to Knee Injury

Katharina Liensberger, a 2022 Olympic slalom silver medallist from Austria, will not participate in the upcoming Milano Cortina Winter Olympics due to a serious knee injury sustained during training. According to the Austrian Ski Association, medical examinations have revealed a fracture of the tibial plateau, a torn meniscus, and a medial collateral ligament injury in her right knee.

Liensberger’s season is now expected to be over following the incident in St Michael, which occurred a month before the Olympics are set to begin in Italy. The 28-year-old slalom specialist had been training for the event, where she would have faced off against American skier Mikaela Shiffrin, who has won six consecutive World Cup slaloms and five this season.

Other top women’s skiers, including Michelle Gisin, Lara Gut-Behrami, and Corinne Suter from Switzerland, have also suffered serious injuries in training incidents leading up to the Olympics. The incident in Chile that resulted in the death of Italian skier Matteo Franzoso in September has raised concerns about safety protocols in the sport.

Liensberger’s injury is the latest addition to a list of high-profile skiers who will be missing the Games due to injury or illness. Shiffrin had previously expressed concerns about the risks involved in training for the Olympics, stating that “the variables are just too many to control and you have to decide sometimes: Is this unreasonably dangerous?”

Source: Al Jazeera