FILE PHOTO: Alpine Skiing - FIS Alpine Ski World Cup - Women's Downhill - Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany - January 25, 2025 Italy's Federica Brignone celebrates on the podium after winning the Women's Downhill REUTERS/Gintare Karpaviciute/File Photo
MILAN (Reuters) -Italy's Alpine ski champion Federica Brignone said she was doing all she could to be fit for her home Milan-Cortina Olympics next year and wanted to retire smiling on the slopes rather than forced out by injury.
The 34-year-old told reporters on Wednesday, however, that it was still too early to say whether she would win the battle.
"I got injured at the best moment of my career, of my life," Brignone said at an event in Milan for her sponsor Banca Generali.
"And this is bothering me. I do not want to retire from ski now, like that. I loved this sport so much that I want to retire when I am happy, feeling good on the slopes."
Overall World Cup champion Brignone, who was a leading medal hope at the Games, fractured her left leg and tore knee ligaments when she crashed during a race in the Italian championships in April.
The giant slalom world champion said she remained positive but also realistic and had to respect her body and do what was best for herself.
"My first goal is my health and that will continue to be and it won't change because of external pressures, in the sense that if my body won't make it, it won't make it. I think it will make it and I am very positive, it is responding," she said.
"Some things are going really beyond expectations. Some other things are giving me a hard time, but it's normal, actually after suffering that kind of injury.
"I think I'll be back for the winter. But that's not something I can predict."
Brignone said she would not know until the crutches came off for good how much load she could put on the leg.
"Obviously it was destroyed, so that has to be respected," she added.
The World Cup season starts in October with the Olympics running from February 6-22.
(Reporting by Giulio Piovaccari, writing by Alan Baldwin, editing by Toby Davis)
