Italy, the host of the Olympics, faces another setback with a top female skier sidelined. Marta Bassino sustained a lateral fracture of the tibial plateau in her left leg due to a crash during pre-season training. The incident occurred on a flat section of a course in Val Senales, Italy, as she prepared for the upcoming World Cup race in Soelden, Austria. Consequently, Bassino will miss the start of the World Cup season and potentially the Milan-Cortina Olympics scheduled for February.
This injury adds to the Italian team’s woes, as overall World Cup champion Federica Brignone is also out of action. Brignone is recovering from multiple leg fractures and an anterior cruciate ligament tear sustained during a giant slalom crash at the Italian championships in April. Notably, Bassino, a decorated skier with seven World Cup victories, including a gold in super-G at the 2023 world championships and a parallel gold at the 2021 worlds, now faces an uncertain road to recovery and a possible absence from the upcoming Olympics.