Cortina d'Ampezzo (Italy) (AFP) - Sofia Goggia said Sunday that she is still aiming to defend her Olympic downhill title next month despite damaging knee ligaments when crashing out of the World Cup super-G in Cortina d'Ampezzo.
In a statement the Italian Winter Sports Federation (FISI) said that Goggia had sprained her left knee, as well as partially tearing its anterior cruciate ligament and picking up a small fracture to her fibula, after a second hard fall in as many weeks, but that she would try to recover in time for the downhill at the Beijing Winter Games on February 15.
"It's a stop that I didn't want in such an important stage in the season but in the coming hours I will begin physiotherapy in order to try to defend the Olympic title in the discipline I love the most," said Goggia.
Goggia, who won Saturday's downhill in the Dolomites with another wild run, came flying down the piste in typically aggressive fashion and after losing her footing in an early turn tried to correct her trajectory and wiped out.
Eventual winner Elena Curtoni turned away in horror as her compatriot Goggia almost did the full splits before bouncing down an icy track like a rag doll, with worried looks on the home fans' faces until the 29-year-old got back up and gingerly skied the rest of the course.
She was later pictured hobbling away following a medical check, being helped along by members of the Italian team staff a week after she crashed out in Zauchensee, after which we was taken to Milan for tests via helicopter.
It was a worrying end to a weekend which was shaping up to be a fine one for Italy's women's skiers, with Goggia's downhill triumph on Saturday and Curtoni eventually winning her first ever World Cup super-G event.
Curtoni claimed her second World Cup win after the Bansko downhill in 2020 with a time of one minute, 20.98 seconds, 0.09sec ahead of Austria's Tamara Tipper, to move second in the super-G rankings.
Michelle Gisin of Switzerland completed the podium in the Dolomites, 0.24sec off the pace.
Goggia's fall also meant she lost the lead in the super-G rankings, dropping down to third as fellow Italian Federica Brignone moved top on 377 points after her fourth-placed finish.
Overall World Cup leader Mikaela Shiffrin finished just over a second off the pace but extended to 52 points her lead on Petra Vlhova, who did not race on Sunday.
