Italy, the host of the Olympics, faces another setback as a prominent female skier, Marta Bassino, sustains a lateral fracture of the tibial plateau in her left leg during pre-season training. The incident occurred on a flat section of a course in Val Senales, Northern Italy, where she was preparing for the upcoming World Cup season’s first race, a giant slalom in Soelden, Austria. Due to this injury, Bassino will miss the initial races of the World Cup season and may also be sidelined for the Milan-Cortina Olympics in February.
This injury adds to the woes of the Italian skiing team, as overall World Cup champion Federica Brignone is also recovering from multiple leg fractures and anterior cruciate ligament tear suffered during a giant slalom crash at the Italian championships in April. Despite these setbacks, Bassino, a decorated skier with a gold medal in super-G at the 2023 world championships and seven World Cup victories, remains a formidable force in the sport. Her absence will be felt as she has been a consistent performer in giant slalom and downhill events, including a parallel gold at the 2021 worlds in Cortina, the venue for women’s skiing during the upcoming Olympics.
