Brignone's brother: "I'm sure Federica will compete at the Olympics"

The Winter Olympics will take place in Milan/Cortina at the beginning of February. "It's my dream to be there," said Federica Brignone before the start of the World Cup season. But she doesn't know how realistic that is after her serious injury. The 35-year-old suffered multiple fractures to her tibial plateau and fibular head as well as a torn cruciate ligament in her fall in Val di Fassa at the beginning of April.

"I am trying. I'm working really hard for it," explained the 37-time World Cup winner. The Italian's Olympic dream of getting fit in time is more alive than ever. "At the moment, we are certain that Federica will take part in the Olympic Games," her coach and brother Davide confirmed to the "Gazzetta dello Sport" (via Eurosport). As before, the decision will be made from day to day.

Some downhill races as a precursor?

It remains to be seen whether Brignone will take part in the World Cup beforehand. The plan of Gianluca Rulfi, Technical Director of Italian women's skiing, is to test the piste with the speed skiers in Cortina on January 24 and 25. Brignone will also be there.

However, the decision to compete at the Olympics is up to her and the pros and cons will be explained to her: "A return to racing would mean that she would lose her protected ranking for the next season. A compromise to test her condition would be to complete a few runs as a forerunner," says Rulfi.

Brother Davide also emphasizes the advantage of Brignone only competing seriously again next season - this would allow the all-rounder to start in the top 3 again in the giant slalom, super-G and downhill.

Vonn and Shiffrin as role models for Brignone

"But if she feels the absolute urge, it wouldn't be a problem to temporarily start again with bib number 30: Vonn and Shiffrin did that recently and caught up with the top group again in just a few races," says Davide Brignone.

For him, big challenges await the two-time overall World Cup winner: "When it comes down to it, Federica has to be good at overcoming the pain if she really wants to achieve something at the Games."