Sawt Falasteen - Italy's ski star Brignone takes on 'new challenge' after serious leg injury

"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.

P.Tamimi--SF-PST