Austrian tech ski racing star Kathrin Zettel announced Monday that she will not be competing in the upcoming World Cup races in Aspen, Colo. The defending super-combined World Champion and last season’s runner-up in both the slalom and giant slalom rankings, tested her left hip and knee last month at the season opener in Soelden, Austria where she finished seventh. But continued pain in the leg, which she originally broke in 2007 at a World Cup super combined in Tarvisio, has forced her to seek a solution.  

“The knee has gotten a lot better but we’re still working on a pain-free return,” the 24-year-old told the Austria Press Agency on Monday following an on-snow training day in Reiteralm on Sunday.

Zettel sat out last week’s slalom in Levi, Finland in hopes of a return to action is Aspen after two weeks of therapy. She will also miss the Lake Louise Super G as she prepares to return to the World Cup for a giant slalom in St. Moritz, Switzerland, on Dec. 12.

“If I were to start racing now, it could mean that the results of the therapy might go to waste. I am very happy with the progress we have made. Even if those are small steps for the better I do not want to stop the positive development,” Zettel told Fisalpine.com. “I accept that it will take its time and cannot be pushed, that’s why we will continue to work hard.”