Federica Brignone’s first goal is to walk before considering next year’s Olympics

MILAN — Federica Brignone, an Italian skier, initially wants to be able to walk again before considering competing in her home Olympics next year.

Brignone was released from the hospital after sustaining many fractures in her left leg and damaging her ACL in a big slalom collision.

The injuries called into question Brignone’s hopes of appearing in the Olympics at 34 years old. The World Cup overall champion was projected to be one of Italy’s top performers at the Milan-Cortina Games.

“I do not know. When asked when she expected to be able to go on her skis again, Brignone replied, “We are not doctors, and they don’t know.” “The outcome of physiotherapy is dependent on my body’s response. But until four or five months, it’s impossible, even if everything goes smoothly.

“Step by step.” First, I’m thinking of walking again, and then we’ll see what happens.”

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‘It is useless to think badly.’

Brignone stated that further testing would be performed 45 days following the procedure to better understand her concerns.

Brignone smiled as she talked at a media day hosted by the Italian Winter Sports Federation, appearing via video connection prior to her first physiotherapy treatment.

“I’m an extremely positive person. “What happened to me was not nice, but it happened, and I can’t go back in time,” she explained. “So it’s pointless to think badly. I’m just trying to be optimistic and get through it in the best manner possible.

“I want to work for small aims, small steps and I’ll try to give my utmost to get better as quick as possible and in the best way possible.”

Brignone also shared photos on Instagram showing herself with the whole crystal globe, followed by a shot of her injuries, which showed a lengthy line of stitches or staples going down her thigh.

Brignone’s last season was his greatest yet, and the incident occurred during the Italian championships, which were supposed to be a joyful last week of racing.

Brignone, who won the giant slalom at the World Championships in February, won ten World Cups this season in three disciplines (five giant slaloms, three super-Gs, and two downhills). At the age of 34, she became the oldest woman to win a World Cup race.

Goggia offers Brignone hope.

Her teammate Sofia Goggia, who has suffered several injuries, contacted Brignone immediately following the tragedy.

“We spoke that very day she hurt herself,” Goggia remarked during Milan’s media day. “I phoned the federation’s doctor to enquire about her, and they were both at the hospital, so he sent her to me.

“I then reiterated in a message that I would have wanted to be there, seeing unfortunately the experience I’ve had over the years.”

Goggia partly tore a cruciate ligament and had a “minor fracture” of a bone in her leg less than a month before the 2022 Beijing Olympics, yet she somehow earned silver in the downhill four years after winning gold.

The 32-year-old also missed the start of the previous season after breaking two bones in her leg in February 2024. Goggia placed second in a downhill and won a super-G in her first two races back, both at Beaver Creek in December.

“In my opinion her (Brignone’s) injury is very serious, but if she manages to heal well and put on skis in December she will have plenty of time to prepare for the Olympics in the best possible way,” Goggia told reporters.

“Fifteen to twenty days (before Beaver Creek) were adequate for me, and I was coming off several seasons of injury. She, on the other hand, has spent 34 years on skis without any really significant injuries and I think she will surely have in her brain the fight whenever she gets back.”