Annecy, France – An ACL tear in her right knee will keep French ski racer Marion Rolland from defending her downhill title at the Alpine World Ski Championships next month in Colorado.
Rolland’s injury was one of several that resulted from crashes during Monday’s World Cup super G in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, when 19 racers failed to cross the finish line. Rolland crashed into the nets and was transferred to France for further medical examinations. The 32-year-old had just made her comeback onto the World Cup after recovering from a previous ACL injury to the same knee.
“I was hopeful that doctors would not confirm what I felt, but that was being utopian,” Rolland said in a statement on Wednesday. “I immediately felt the tearing in my knee before I fell and finished in the safety nets.”
Rolland expects to undergo surgery to repair her knee in about a month, once the swelling subsides.
Other athletes who limped away from Monday’s race with injuries included Italy’s Daniela Merighetti, who crashed into a gate mid-course, breaking some teeth and her jaw, and Switzerland’s Dominique Gisin, who left Cortina with a tibial head fracture in the right leg as a souvenir. No decision has been made regarding the World Championships by either Merighetti or Gisin.
The World Championships will be held in Vail and Beaver Creek, Colo., Feb. 2-15.