Downhill skier Sofia Goggia crashes in training and is being checked for unspecified injuries
By The Associated Press on February 5, 2024.
MILAN (AP) – Leading downhill skier Sofia Goggia crashed in training Monday and was being checked for unspecified injuries, the Italian Winter Sports Federation said. Goggia, who has had numerous serious injuries throughout her career, straddled a gate with her right leg while training giant slalom in northern Italy, the federation said, adding that its medical commission had not yet issued an injury report. Goggia is the latest top skier to crash recently following a series of falls involving Mikaela Shiffrin, Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, Petra Vlhova, Alexis Pinturault and Corinne Suter – among others. Vlhova, the Olympic slalom champion who crashed at her home race in Jasna, Slovakia, last month, had surgery Monday in Switzerland to repair torn ligaments in her right knee. “The operation was successful,” Vlhova’s coach Mauro Pini said, adding that the “recovery is going according to the plan.” The 31-year-old Goggia leads the World Cup downhill standings with an 89-point advantage over Austria’s Stephanie Venier. She is fourth in the super-G standings, and fifth overall. Goggia also crashed during a super-G in Cortina d’Ampezzo in 2022 and suffered multiple injuries to her left knee and leg but hurried back in time to take the silver medal in downhill at the Beijing Olympics 23 days later – to go with her gold from four years earlier at Pyeongchang. Last year in St. Moritz, Switzerland, she won a downhill a day after breaking two fingers in her left hand. This latest injury comes almost exactly two years before the Milan-Cortina Olympics are due to begin on Feb. 6, 2026. Last week, Goggia finished fifth at the Kronplatz resort for her best giant slalom result in more than six years. She has 24 World Cup wins. ___ AP skiing: https://apnews.com/hub/alpine-skiing 13-12
