Featured Image: Federica Brignone. Credit: GEPA
Italian Federica Brignone had the most successful season of her career, winning the overall, downhill, and giant slalom World Cup globes. After concluding the World Cup season at the Finals in Sun Valley, Idaho, the athlete headed home.
Brignone decided to compete in the Italian National Championships at Val Di Fassa. Unfortunately, in the second run of the giant slalom today (April 3rd, 2025), she crashed, slamming through two gates.
The crash resulted in a comminuted fracture (bone fracture where the bone breaks into three or more fragments) of the tibial plateau and fibular head in her left leg. She was airlifted to Trento, Italy, for further examination and to establish a timeline for the surgery.
That evening, Brignone underwent surgery. According to the International Ski and Snowboard Federation, the operation was completed and successful. They stabilized the comminuted fracture and repaired the ligaments in the medial compartment of the knee. A rupture in the ACL was also detected and will be further evaluated.
10 Months Before the Winter Olympic Games at Home
This season Brignone won the World Cup super-G in Cortina d’Ampezzo, which is the venue for the upcoming 2026 Winter Olympic Games. This was a strong representation of how she would be a top contestant to medal in front of her home crowd at the Games.
After achieving victory in January on the Olympia delle Tofane track, she was overcome with emotions.
She stated, “When you visualize it and then do it in a race, it is really amazing, a sensation that is crazy.” She continued, “I wanted to perform here. I have to say this is my snow, and I really like it this year. I tried really hard.”
Ski Racing Media and the entire ski racing community are wishing her a swift recovery so she can return to compete for Italy. Brignone will begin the rehabilitation process in the next few days.
About the Author: Ellie Hartman
