Downhill skier Sofia Goggia crashes in training and breaks 2 bones in right leg
Italy's Sofia Goggia speeds down the course during an alpine ski, women's World Cup super G race, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Sunday, Jan. 28, 2024. Credit: AP/Gabriele Facciotti
MILAN — Leading downhill skier Sofia Goggia crashed in training Monday and broke two bones in her right leg, ending her season prematurely.
Goggia, who has had numerous serious injuries throughout her career, straddled a gate with her right leg while undertaking a training giant slalom in northern Italy.
The Italian Winter Sports Federation said surgery inserted a metal rod in her leg attached with seven screws to repair her tibia and malleolus bones at a Milan hospital.
Goggia is the latest top skier to crash recently following falls involving Mikaela Shiffrin, Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, Petra Vlhova, Alexis Pinturault and Corinne Suter among others.
Vlhova, the Olympic slalom champion who crashed at her home race in Jasna, Slovakia, last month, had surgery Monday in Switzerland to repair torn ligaments in her right knee.
“The operation was successful," Vlhova's coach, Mauro Pini, said, adding the “recovery is going according to the plan.”
The 31-year-old Goggia leads the World Cup downhill standings with an 89-point advantage over Austria’s Stephanie Venier. She is fourth in the super-G standings, and fifth overall.
Italy's Sofia Goggia speeds down the course during an alpine ski, women's World Cup giant slalom, in Kronplatz Italy, Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024. Credit: AP/Alessandro Trovati
Goggia also crashed in 2022 during a super-G in Cortina d’Ampezzo and suffered multiple injuries to her left knee and leg but hurried back in time to take the silver medal in downhill at the Beijing Olympics 23 days later — to go with her gold from four years earlier at Pyeongchang.
Last year in St. Moritz, Switzerland, she won a downhill a day after breaking two fingers in her left hand.
“I’ll come back this time, too,” Goggia said before entering the operating room, according to the federation.
This latest injury comes almost exactly two years before the Milan-Cortina Olympics begin on Feb. 6, 2026.
Italy's Sofia Goggia reacts after concluding an alpine ski, women's World Cup super G race, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Sunday, Jan. 28, 2024. Credit: AP/Alessandro Trovati
Last week, Goggia finished fifth at the Kronplatz resort for her best giant slalom result in more than six years. She has 24 World Cup wins.
“It’s always upsetting when an athlete gets hurt,” federation president Flavio Roda said. “Sofia was having a really great season. She was fast in speed and had improved a lot in giant slalom. It’s a real shame, this injury. We’re hoping that she gets through it in the best manner possible.”
