Italian biathlete Lisa Vittozzi, last year’s World Cup overall champion, will miss the entire 2024-25 season due to a back injury.
“I started this season with enthusiasm and the desire to remain a top-level contender,” Vittozzi said, according to an International Biathlon Union translation of an Italian federation press release. “Unfortunately, the issue that arose during a critical moment of preparation forced me to stop, and when I resumed more intense training, my body couldn’t handle the workload, even though the coaches had prepared a lighter program. Therefore, we decided not to force a return to avoid further risks and to safeguard the upcoming months of training, shifting our focus to the Milano-Cortina 2026 Games, which are the true goal of this four-year cycle.”
Vittozzi, 29, missed the first eight races of the 2024-25 season in December due to back problems.
Vittozzi ascended to the top of the sport after the 2022 Olympics, where her best individual finish was 32nd.
She won four world championships medals in 2023 (three in relays) and in 2024 (three individual).
Last season, she became the second Italian to win an overall World Cup title in biathlon after teammate Dorothea Wierer.
Vittozzi was born in Pieve di Cadore, about 15 miles southeast of 2026 Olympic host Cortina d’Ampezzo. Biathlon events at the Milan Cortina Games will be in Antholz-Anterselva, which is north of Cortina.
Italy has won seven Olympic biathlon medals, all silver or bronze.
German Franziska Preuss leads this season’s overall standings through eight of 21 races.
