Italy, the host of the Olympics, faces another setback in its female skiing team as Marta Bassino sustains a lateral fracture of the tibial plateau in her left leg during a training accident. The incident occurred on a smooth section of a course in Val Senales in northern Italy as she prepared for the upcoming World Cup race in Soelden, Austria. Due to the injury, Bassino will miss the initial World Cup events and potentially the Milan-Cortina Olympics scheduled for February.
This injury adds to the challenges faced by the Italian team, as overall World Cup champion Federica Brignone is also sidelined with severe injuries sustained during a giant slalom crash earlier this year. Brignone is still uncertain about her return to skiing after breaking multiple bones in her left leg and tearing her anterior cruciate ligament at the Italian championships in April.
Despite the setbacks, Bassino’s achievements include winning gold in super-G at the 2023 world championships and securing seven World Cup victories, with six in giant slalom and one in downhill. Her notable performance also includes claiming a parallel gold at the 2021 worlds in Cortina, the same venue for the upcoming women’s skiing events during the Olympics.