Now Mikaela Shiffrin has also been hit: The ski queen is the next prominent fall victim in the World Cup. The 28-year-old American fell during the chaotic descent in Cortina d’Ampezzo and, like Olympic champion Corinne Suter (Switzerland), injured her left knee. After an initial examination in the hospital, the world association FIS announced that at least the cruciate ligaments “seem intact.”
Shiffrin himself gave the all-clear on Friday evening. “Luckily it’s not that bad, but it’s hurting me a lot at the moment,” she wrote on
Suter got it worse. As the Swiss association announced, the 29-year-old suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament and an injury to the inner meniscus.
Shiffrin had to be rescued by helicopter, Suter was taken away from the scene of the accident on a quad bike. For the top duo and numerous other athletes, the wild race on the unusually undulating Tofana ended with a left turn at the second intermediate time. Emma Aicher, combined Olympic champion Michelle Gisin from Switzerland and combined world champion Federica Brignone (Italy) also took off here; Kira Weidle had major problems at the point of the fall.
The DSV announced on Friday evening that Aicher had “suffered a bruised shoe edge as a result of her fall” and would therefore “not be at the start” on Saturday.
More and more accidents in the alpine ski circus
Shiffrin was pushed backwards during a jump before the curve, fell shortly after landing and crashed into the safety fence. She remained on the slope for about five minutes and received first aid. After standing up, she used her ski poles like crutches to take weight off her left leg. Suter landed hard after the jump, screamed in pain and also grabbed his left knee.
“You almost have to be happy when you’re down safely,” said Weidle on “ZDF”. The Starnberger, who won World Cup silver in Cortina 2021, took 16th place (+1.65 seconds) in Austria’s Stephanie Venier’s second World Cup victory. Lara Gut-Behrami (Switzerland/+0.39 seconds) came second ahead of Sofia Goggia (Italy), Valerie Grenier (Canada) and Christina Ager (Austria/all +0.71).
Shiffrin and Suter joined the growing list of stars who had serious accidents this winter. Shiffrin’s friend Aleksander Aamodt Kilde (Norway), like her big slalom rival Petra Vlhova (Slovakia), is out for the rest of the season. The Frenchman Alexis Pinturault and Marco Schwarz (Austria) were also seriously injured.