Defending champion Flury and 34 others These ski stars will miss the World Championships due to injury

Sandro Zappella

1.2.2025

Jasmine Flury will not be able to defend her World Championship gold medal.
Jasmine Flury will not be able to defend her World Championship gold medal.
KEYSTONE

The World Ski Championships in Saalbach are coming up. While many stars are fighting for precious metal, others will have to watch on. The list of injured skiers is long.

No time? blue News summarizes for you

  • The World Ski Championships begin in Saalbach on February 4.
  • Many ski stars will have to follow the action from home because they will miss the World Championships due to injury.
  • Among the best-known absentees are Jasmine Flury, Petra Vlhova, Alexander Kilde, Cyprien Sarrazin and Marcel Hirscher.

The World Ski Championships in Saalbach start on Tuesday with the team parallel race. A total of 11 competitions are on the program, 33 medals will be awarded, but not all ski stars will have the chance to fight for precious metal. Many athletes will miss the major event due to injury*. For example, defending downhill champion Jasmine Flury and other ski cracks such as Petra Vlhova, Alexander Kilde and Cyprien Sarrazin.

*Some of the athletes listed would probably have missed out on the World Championships because they did not meet the selection criteria of their national associations.

The Swiss 🇨🇭

 

🇨🇭 Switzerland

Jasmine Flury

Cartilage damage in the knee

The 2023 downhill world champion will not be able to defend her title. Flury had to end last season in February due to cartilage damage. Flury is now back on her skis, but is not yet ready to return to racing action. Women's head coach Beat Tschuor told "Radio Südostschweiz" that he does not expect Flury to return to the World Cup this season.

 

🇨🇭 Switzerland

Gino Caviezel

Complex knee injury

Gino Caviezel had a serious accident in the Super-G on the Stelvio in Bormio and had to end the season due to a "complex knee injury".

 

🇨🇭 Switzerland

Niels Hintermann

Lymph gland cancer

The Swiss speed specialist was diagnosed with lymphatic cancer at the beginning of October. Hintermann will therefore miss the entire World Cup winter.

 

🇨🇭 Switzerland

Urs Kryenbühl

Complex knee injury

Urs Kryenbühl seriously injured his right knee during the first downhill training session in Beaver Creek, USA. This continues the Swiss racer's story of woe, who has not been able to compete in a race since December 2022 due to injury.

 

🇨🇭 Switzerland

Josua Mettler

Cruciate ligament rupture in both knee joints, torn inner ligament and inner meniscus

Josua Mettler is seriously injured in downhill training in Bormio. The 26-year-old ruptures the anterior cruciate ligament in both knees and tears the medial collateral ligament and medial meniscus.

 

🇨🇭 Switzerland

Stephanie Jenal

Torn patella tendon

Stephanie Jenal fell during downhill training in Garmisch-Partenkirchen and tore the patellar tendon in her left knee.

 

🇨🇭 Switzerland

Andrea Ellenberger

Lower leg fracture and knee sprain

A serious training crash before the World Cup race in Semmering has brought Andrea Ellenberger's season to a premature end. The 31-year-old from Nidwalden suffered a lower leg fracture, a knee sprain and several severe bruises between Christmas and New Year.

 

🇨🇭 Switzerland

Noémie Kolly

Torn cruciate ligament in left knee

The Swiss athlete tears her cruciate ligament in training in December and has to pull out for the rest of the winter.

 

🇨🇭 Switzerland

Jasmina Suter

Meniscus injury in left knee

It happens in Cortina in mid-January: Jasmina Suter injures the meniscus in her left knee during a race and has to undergo surgery.

The international stars

 

🇸🇰 Slovakia

Petra Vlhova

Cruciate ligament rupture

In January 2024, Petra Vlhova tore her cruciate ligament in her home race in Jasna. She will not be fit in time for the World Championships in Saalbach.

 

🇫🇷 France

Cyprien Sarrazin

Subdural hematoma

Cyprien Sarrazin is considered one of the best speed racers in the World Cup. But in Bormio, he hit his head and back heavily on the hard piste during downhill training. A hemorrhage near the brain, a so-called subdural hematoma, was diagnosed. Sarrazin even had to be temporarily placed in an induced coma. The Frenchman is now feeling better, but skiing is still a long way off.

 

🇳🇴 Norway

Aleksander Aamodt Kilde

Infection in the shoulder

After his nasty fall in Wengen in January 2024, the Norwegian needs more patience on his way back. Even before the start of the season in Sölden, he announced that he would miss the entire 2024/25 season. The reason for this is an infection in his shoulder.

 

🇫🇷 France

Alexis Pinturault

Bone contusion of the inner tibial plateau with associated fracture, injury to the inner meniscus

The Frenchman suffered a serious injury in his crash in the super-G in Kitzbühel and will have to end his season. Pinturault has only just returned to the World Cup after tearing his cruciate ligament in Wengen last winter.

 

🇳🇱 Netherlands

Marcel Hirscher

Cruciate ligament rupture in left knee

Eight-time overall World Cup winner Marcel Hirscher made his comeback for the Netherlands this season, five years after his retirement. However, the dream of a Dutch ski medal was shattered when Hirscher tore his cruciate ligament in training in December 2024.

 

🇦🇹 Austria

Nina Ortlieb

Fracture of the right lower leg

In addition to world champion Jamine Flury, the silver medal winner of the 2023 World Championship downhill in Méribel will also miss this year's World Championships. Nina Ortlieb has been hit once again. The Austrian broke her lower leg in the World Cup downhill in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Ortlieb has battled with many injuries throughout her career, and the fracture to her lower leg required her 23rd operation in total.

 

🇺🇸 USA

Tommy Ford 

Knee joint injury

The 35-year-old American injured his knee joint during training in Adelboden and will have to undergo surgery and miss the World Championships.

 

🇦🇹 Austria

Daniel Danklmaier

Severe bone bruises on both knees

Danklmaier injured both knees during the Super-G in Bormio. He was lucky in misfortune, as it was only bone bruising. Since then, however, he has not been able to compete in any more races and will most likely miss the World Championships.

 

🇩🇪 Germany

Alexander Schmid

Cruciate ligament rupture

Parallel slalom world champion Alexander Schmid tears his cruciate ligament in December. The season is over for the 30-year-old.

 

🇩🇪 Germany

Andreas Sander

Cell disease

Last October, Sander makes it public that he is suffering from a serious cell disease. It is uncertain when he will be able to ski competitively again. During the World Cup races in Kitzbühel, Sander announced that he was optimistic that he would be able to return to the ski circuit. However, this will no longer be the case this season.

 

🇫🇷 France

Blaise Giezendanner

Torn cruciate ligament in right knee

In the Lauberhorn downhill, the Frenchman tore a cruciate ligament in his right knee. The season is now over for Giezendanner.

 

🇮🇹 Italy

Tommaso Sala

Torn cruciate ligament in left knee

The slalom specialist tore a cruciate ligament in his left knee during training in Val Senales and will miss the whole season.

 

🇭🇷 Croatia

Leona Popovic

Torn medial meniscus in left knee

After tearing her cruciate ligament in March 2024, Popovic's year continued with an injury. She tore her meniscus in Killington in December. The season is now over again.

 

🇬🇷 Greece

AJ Ginnis

Knee problems

In 2023, AJ Ginnis sensationally won the World Championship silver medal for Greece. However, Ginnis will have to miss this year's World Championships. He ended his season in mid-December due to persistent knee problems.

 

🇮🇹 Italy

Pietro Zazzi

Fractured tibia and fibula

The 30-year-old Italian breaks his tibia and fibula in Bormio and has to end his season.

 

🇮🇹 Italy

Guglielmo Bosca

Fracture of the right fibula

The Italian Guglielmo Bosca crashes in the second training run for the first World Cup downhill of the winter in Beaver Creek and suffers a complicated fracture of his right fibula. This means the season is over before it has really begun.

 

🇩🇪 Germany

Sebastian Holzmann

Slalom specialist Sebastian Holzmann tears his cruciate ligament in December. He will not be back at the start until next winter.

 

🇨🇿 Czech Republic

Tereza Nova 

Brain haemorrhage

Czech ski racer Tereza Nova has been placed in an induced coma after a training crash in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. The 26-year-old suffered a serious head injury. She underwent surgery at the Murnau Accident Clinic to reduce swelling in her brain, the Czech Ski Association announced.

 

🇦🇹 Austria

Lisa Grill

Fractured tibia and fibula

Lisa Grill won three medals at the 2020 Junior World Championships and was regarded as a great young hope in the Austrian ski team. However, the injury bug has struck again and again for Grill. Since her World Cup debut in 2020, she has only been able to compete in seven races. This season, she took part in three, before suffering a fractured tibia and fibula during training.

 

🇦🇹 Austria

Felix Hacker

Cruciate ligament and meniscus tear

In the second Kitzbühel training session, Austria's Felix Hacker has a serious fall and tears his cruciate ligament and meniscus. The overall European Cup leader has to end his winter.

 

🇮🇹 Italy

Beatrice Sola

Cruciate ligament and meniscus tear in right knee

Italian slalom racer Beatrice Sola tears her cruciate ligament and meniscus in training in December 2024.

 

🇮🇹 Italy

Teresa Runggaldier

Torn cruciate ligament in right knee and fibula fracture

The Italian established herself in the speed disciplines last season, but before the new winter starts, her season is already over. During training in December, she tore the cruciate ligament in her right knee and also suffered a fractured fibula.

 

🇺🇸 USA

Erik Arvidsson

Cruciate ligament rupture in left knee

The American tears his cruciate ligament during training in Beaver Creek. Arvidsson then skied four more races with a torn cruciate ligament before receiving the shocking diagnosis. In January, Arvidsson had to go under the knife and his season was over.

 

🇩🇪 Germany

Jacob Schramm

Cruciate ligament ruptures in both knees

The German crashes on the Streif in the second downhill training run, tears both cruciate ligaments and suffers a concussion.

 

🇨🇦 Canada

Stefanie Fleckenstein

Injuries to the foot, multiple fractures to the tibia, damaged meniscus

In December 2023, Fleckenstein suffered a serious fall, sustained several injuries and is still fighting for her comeback. Within ten months, she had to undergo six operations.

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