Olympic downhill champion Sofia Goggia is out until January after fracturing her right ankle in a training fall on Friday while preparing for next weekend’s World Cup season opener in Austria.
The Italian is not expected to have surgery, but the bone needs four to five weeks to heal.
The timetable means Goggia will miss the first six speed races of the World Cup season, denting a bid to repeat as World Cup downhill season champion. Goggia made five speed-race podiums at December stops in Lake Louise, Canada and Val d’Isere, France, between the last two seasons.
Her absence will increase Lindsey Vonn‘s chances to grab wins at Lake Louise (where she owns a record 18 victories), St. Moritz and Val d’Isere on back-to-back-to-back weekends in December. Vonn, who will retire after this season, is four wins shy of Swede Ingemar Stenmark‘s record 86 career World Cup victories.
When healthy, Vonn has averaged seven wins per season in recent years.
Vonn is not racing the World Cup season opener, a giant slalom in Soelden, which she has skipped four of the last five years.
OlympicTalk is on Apple News. Favorite us!