Helicopter in use
Shock before the Olympics: ski ace seriously injured
02/01/2026 – 3:38 p.mReading time: 1 min.
The Austrian ski racer Katharina Liensberger falls badly during training. The MRI scan reveals the bitter diagnosis: the dream of the Olympics has ended prematurely.
About a month before the Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Austrian alpine skier Katharina Liensberger was seriously injured. The 28-year-old suffered a fracture of the tibial plateau and a torn meniscus and medial ligament in her right knee when she fell during giant slalom training in St. Michael.
After initial treatment, a helicopter transported the athlete to the Hochrum Clinic near Innsbruck, where the exact diagnosis was made using an MRI. The operation is still scheduled for Friday. The Olympic season is over early for the Slalom World Championship bronze medalist in Saalbach-Hinterglemm.
The failure hits the Austrian team hard. Liensberger narrowly missed the podium in fourth place at the World Cup in Semmering. The Winter Olympics in Italy will take place from February 6th to 22nd.