Italian star Sofia Goggia suffers broken leg in training accident, becoming latest injury-stricken skier this season
By Ben Church and Ivana Scatola, CNN
(CNN) — Sofia Goggia has become the latest skier to suffer a serious injury this season, after the Italian star broke her leg during a training crash on Monday.
The 31-year-old, who won downhill gold at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, collided with a gate during a session in Ponte di Legno, Italy, as she was preparing for the next World Cup event.
In a statement on Monday, the Italian Winter Sports Federation (FISI) said Goggia underwent “perfectly successful” surgery on a “displaced joint fracture” on her right leg.
“A plate with seven screws was attached to the athlete,” the statement said, adding Goggia would require 40 days of rest before starting her more active physiotherapy.
Goggia is the reigning World Cup downhill champion and is currently leading this season’s competition.
Despite all her success, though, Monday’s setback is just the latest in a long-list of injuries which have plagued the Italian’s career – including serious knee injuries in 2013 and 2021.
“Another injury that interrupts my chase after a new Downhill World Cup title,” Goggia said in the FISI statement. “But I will get back on my feet this time too.”
Goggia also reshared a video on her Instagram story of Eurosport wishing her well in her recovery.
It’s also another incident involving a World Cup skier this season.
US skiing superstar Mikaela Shiffrin – the most successful skier of all time – was hospitalized after a crash last month just weeks after her partner, Norwegian skier Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, was airlifted to hospital after suffering a “brutal” full-speed crash at a World Cup event.
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