Freestyle Skiing - Freestyle Skiing World Championships & Snowboard World Championships - Bakuriani, Georgia - March 4, 2023 France's Tess Ledeux during the women's freeski big air. REUTERS/Irakli Gedenidze
PARIS, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Freestyle skier Tess Ledeux will miss the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics in a major blow to French medal hopes less than a month before the Games.
The 24-year-old, a three-times world champion and silver medallist at the Beijing 2022 Games, said on Thursday she would not return to competition this season as she recovers from a concussion suffered in a heavy crash during a World Cup event in March.
“The timeframe is a bit too short and the risks a bit too high,” Ledeux told French media. “So together with the medical team we decided to sit out this season, to protect myself and complete the recovery process without taking unnecessary risks.”
Ledeux had been a leading contender for medals in slopestyle and big air in Italy. She has 17 World Cup victories and five Crystal Globes.
(Reporting by Julien Pretot, editing by Ed Osmond)
