Job message for the ÖSV! The Austrian ski jumper Eva Pinkelnig was seriously injured on the knee in her severe fall on the Olympic ski jump in Predazzo, the winter games in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo (February 6th to 22nd, 2026) will take place without the five-time vice world champion. But that’s not all the bad news: even an end to the 37-year-old’s career should be in the room.
At the victory of the Canadian Abigail Strate, Eva Pinkelnig fell heavily in the second round. The pictures of Pinkelnig, who screamed loudly, directly suggested a worse injury, now the bitter diagnosis followed.
The overall World Cup winner of the winter of 2022/23 suffered a tear of the front cruciate ligament and the interior and outer meniscus in the left knee, the Austrian Ski Association (ÖSV) announced. Cartilage damage was also found.
Pinkelnig will be operated on on Friday in the Hochrum private clinic and miss the entire season.
This has been confirmed by the bad fears that ÖSV coach Thomas Diethart have already inspired after the fall. “She is still in shock. It is difficult to assess how she really is,” said Diethart. A little later, the association communicated that one assumes an injury to the left knee.
End of career after the 2026 Olympics already announced in 2024
The season could certainly mean that Pinkelnig ends her career. In conversation with the “Kurier”, she had already announced that the Olympic season would be her last.
“My life dream is to have a family, my own children. My watch ticks, so I will enjoy my last two seasons”. The interview was run in 2024, and according to the plan, the last winter would be the last winter in 2025/26. It is not yet known whether the injury leads to a rethink. Pinkelnig has not yet spoken out,