Sawt Falasteen - World champion Brignone to compete at Winter Olympics: Italian ski federation

The giant slalom world champion was included in a list of 109 athletes in Italy's team for the Milan-Cortina Games, the 35-year-old one of 11 in the women's alpine skiing team.

Brignone returned to action last week with a hugely impressive sixth place in the giant slalom at Kronplatz, her first race since suffering a double leg break in April last year.

Previous to that race she was still unsure about her participation, telling reporters beforehand that she still felt pain both on and away from the slopes.

Brignone's aim is to compete in her favoured discipline as well as the downhill and super-G events in Cortina d'Ampezzo, where the women's alpine skiing events will be held over February 8-18.

Both Brignone, who will be one of Italy's four flag bearers at the opening ceremony on February 6, and fellow Italian medal hope Sofia Goggia sat out the giant slalom and slalom in Spindleruv Mlyn at the weekend.

However both are reportedly set to travel to tragedy-hit Crans Montana for the final weekend of World Cup action before the Olympics.

S.Abdullah--SF-PST