Alpine skiing-Bassino faces surgery after leg fracture, Olympics in doubt
Alpine Skiing - FIS Alpine Ski World Cup - Women's Downhill Training - Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany - January 24, 2025 Italy's Marta Bassino during training REUTERS/Gintare Karpaviciute
Italian Marta Bassino faces a battle to be fit for next year's Winter Olympics on home snow after suffering a leg fracture during training on Wednesday ahead of the start of the World Cup season.
Bassino, 29, was preparing in Val Senales in northern Italy for this weekend's season-opening giant slalom in Solden, Austria when she crashed on a flat section and injured her leg.
"She was immediately assisted by the FISI Medical Commission, she went to the Merano hospital, where an X-ray revealed a lateral fracture of the tibial plateau of her left leg," an Italian Winter Sports Federation (FISI) statement said.
A subsequent scan confirmed the fracture and Bassino was expected to have surgery in a clinic in Milan either late on Wednesday or on Thursday morning, the FISI added in an update to their initial statement.
Bassino specialises in giant slalom and has won six World Cup races in that discipline. She is also a world champion in super-G, winning the speed event in Meribel in 2023.
Her injury is another setback for Italy ahead of next February's Milano-Cortina Games after reigning World Cup overall champion Federica Brignone suffered a serious left leg injury during the national championships in April.
"I don't think I'll be able to come back exactly as I was before," the 35-year-old Brignone said at a FISI media day last week.
"I'm sorry, but it's not these Olympics that will change my life and career. What I've done, I've done, and in fact I've done much more than I could ever have dreamed of.
"It would be a bonus, it would be a beautiful dream."
