Katharina Liensberger / Semmering / GEPA pictures
During training in St. Michael, Austria, the 28-year-old fractured her tibial plateau, tore her meniscus, and injured the medial collateral ligament in her right knee, the Austrian Ski Federation (ÖSV) confirmed Friday in a statement shared on its official Instagram account.
Liensberger will undergo surgery later today.
Due to the severity of the injury, surgery is unavoidable, ÖSV said following an examination at the Hochrum Clinic near Innsbruck.
Her season so far
The 2021 World Cup slalom overall champion and world champion hasn’t reached the podium yet this season, but has been top 10 on four occasions and just missed the podium in her last race of 2025, finishing 4th on 28th December at home in the Semmering slalom, challenged by difficult conditions.
The three-time World Cup slalom winner has also kept up her form in giant slalom, climbing back into the top 10 in Copper Mountain, Colorado in November, showing her ability to compete in both tech disciplines.
According to FIS standings, at the turn of the year, the slalom bronze medallist from last year’s World Championships is ranked 15th in the women’s overall standings, 10th in slalom, and 18th in giant slalom.
This news arrives less than 24 hours before she was due to start in Saturday’s Kranjska Gora giant slalom, followed by Sunday’s slalom, where Liensberger is always a podium contender, despite never finishing higher than 5th (in 2020 slalom) at the Slovenian resort.
Olympic pedigree
At the last Winter Olympics in Beijing 2022, Liensberger won silver in the slalom, missing out on gold to Slovakia’s Petra Vlhová by just eight hundredths of a second, and secured Team Event gold with teammates Katharina Truppe, Stefan Brennsteiner, and Johannes Strolz.
A medal contender
Friday’s injury likely eliminates Liensberger’s chances of returning in time to compete at the upcoming Olympic Games in Cortina d’Ampezzo.
Without Liensberger, the Austrian Ski Team would lose one of its most consistent technical medal contenders during an Olympic season already shaped by injury setbacks on the women’s tour.
We wish Katharina Liensberger all the very best in her recovery.
About the Author: Matt Garcka
