Michelle Gisin at the 2023 FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup in Soldeu, Andorra. Photo: Krzysztof Golik // Wikimedia Commons
The Swiss women’s Alpine Ski team has been hit with another injury this week. Not only is this the third injury in just one month, but all three of the skiers have been former Olympic champions.
Two-time Olympic Combined champion Michelle Gisin was in St. Moritz, practicing upcoming downhill and super-G events, when the accident occurred. As the Associated Press reports, one of the 32-year-old’s skis appeared to catch an edge on a left-hand turn, causing her to lose control. She hit the safety fences at over 69 mph, passing through one layer of safety nets, before being stopped by the second.
The Swiss ski team stated that Gisin “can move her arms and legs normally.” However, they added that she also sustained injuries to her right wrist and left knee. She has been transported by helicopter to Zurich, where she will undergo surgery.
Gisin is the third Olympic champion on the Swiss women’s Alpine ski team to be injured in the past month. Lara Gut-Behrami, who won gold at the Super-G event in the 2022 Beijing Olympics, tore her left ACL at Copper Mountain, Colorado in November. Olympic Downhill champion Corinne Suter crashed last week, also at St. Moritz, tearing a muscle in her left calf, bruising her left knee and fracturing a bone in her right foot.
With less than a month to go until the Milan Cortina Olympic Games, this proves to be a devastating blow to an extremely competitive team. The games are set to open February 6, with a women’s alpine skiing race at Cortina d’Ampezzo.
