Federica Brignone unsure about Winter Olympics participation ahead of World Cup comeback
Sign up now: Get the biggest sports news in your inbox
Federica Brignone of Italy ahead of a press conference in San Vigilio Marebbe in Italy on Jan 19, 2026. Brignone said she will return to competition in the giant slalom at the FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup stop in Kronplatz on Jan 20, 292 days after breaking her leg in Val di Fassa.
PHOTO: EPA
Follow topic:
MILAN – Federica Brignone admitted on Jan 19 that she still does not know if she will take part in the 2026 Winter Olympics, ahead of her return to alpine skiing after a horror injury last spring.
The Italian star confirmed to reporters that she will be skiing in the Jan 20 World Cup giant slalom in Kronplatz, her first race since a double leg break in April 2025, with the Olympics getting under way in less than three weeks.
Brignone has been a doubt for the Milano-Cortina Games since that training accident, which came just after the end of a triumphant season in which she won the World Cup title and was crowned giant slalom world champion.
The head of the Italian Olympic Committee said in December that Brignone would take part in the Olympics, which the 35-year-old described as the “big goal” of her season.
“I don’t think any athlete could say that they’ll participate in the Olympic Games until they’ve got their skiing sticks out, especially in our sport. It would be kind of a sin,” Brignone said.
“We don’t know. Obviously, anything could happen and you can’t know whether it will. So right now I still don’t know.”
Brignone, one of Italy’s flag bearers at the Olympics, said that the Jan 20 race will serve as a test of her ability to compete, admitting that she still feels pain in her left leg.
“I haven’t had a day without feeling pain since the day I injured myself, even just in my everyday business,” she said.
“I definitely feel it when I ski, around the tibia, halfway up the tibia and above, the fibula and the knee, everywhere really. Some days I feel more pain than others, and some days I’ve not been able to ski.”
Brignone added that she has not set herself any objectives for the Jan 20 race, which is split into two runs.
“I’m coming back to competition after a long time and after a lot has happened,” she said.
“Having objectives for my performance more than results should help me be more calm and it’s already a big deal for me to have got out my sticks.
“When I hurt myself last year I wasn’t sure if I’d have ever got them out again for a race, and nor for training, so I suppose I can say that I’ve won.”
The Olympic women’s alpine skiing competition begins on Feb 8 with the downhill race and finishes 10 days later with the slalom.
AFP, REUTERS
