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Injured Vlhova to miss Alpine skiing worlds / Photo: Jure Makovec - AFP
Injured Vlhova to miss Alpine skiing worlds
Reigning Olympic slalom champion Petra Vlhova will miss the skiing world championships in Austria next month as she continues her recovery from a serious knee injury, her coach said on Monday.
The 29-year-old tore her knee ligament as she fell during a World Cup giant slalom at Jasna in her native Slovakia exactly a year ago, on January 20, 2024.
In December, Vlhova's team said her rehabilitation had been slowed by cartilage problems.
"Petra's knee rehabilitation finally seems to be on the right track, showing encouraging progress day by day," Vlhova's Italian coach Mauro Pini said on Monday.
"However, the setbacks experienced in December and January have unfortunately compromised the chance to participate in the World Championships in Saalbach," he added.
The world championships will be held at Saalbach-Hinterglemm on February 4-16.
"We had hoped to be in top form to compete for the medals, but sadly that won't be possible," said Pini.
"For Petra, a new chapter begins now, with eyes already set on the Olympics in Cortina 2026."
Besides winning the slalom gold at the Beijing Olympics in 2022, Vlhova topped the World Cup rankings in 2020/2021 and won six medals at world championships including a giant slalom gold at Are in 2019.
Q.Weiss--BlnAP
