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 a training accident. The incident occurred on a flat section of a course in Val Senales, Italy, as she prepared for the upcoming World Cup giant slalom event in Soelden, Austria. Bassino is set to undergo surgery due to the injury, which could potentially rule her out not only from the beginning of the World Cup season but also from participating in the Milan-Cortina Olympics scheduled for February.
This injury adds to the Italian team’s woes as overall World Cup champion Federica Brignone remains sidelined due to multiple leg fractures and a torn anterior cruciate ligament sustained during a giant slalom crash earlier this year. Bassino, a decorated skier with numerous accolades including a gold medal in super-G at the 2023 world championships, faces a challenging road to recovery, with uncertainty surrounding her return to competitive skiing. The absence of both Bassino and Brignone poses a significant setback for Italy’s skiing team in the lead-up to the upcoming competitions.