For Alpine skiers, injuries often put athletes on bench for years
Just the thought of being at the Olympics today made Swiss ski racer Lara Gut smile broadly, and that had nothing to do with it being the last opportunity to train for the downhill, an event in which she earned a bronze at the 2014 Sochi Games.
No, the reason for Gut’s excitement was much simpler, as she demonstrated with a two-word exclamation of “I’m here!” while kicking up her left leg. Turns out today is the one-year anniversary of the operation she had to repair tears to the anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus in that knee, a season-ending injury incurred during practice at the 2017 world championships.
“Everything that was natural, like walking — you have to get used to that again,” Gut said. “One day, you’re like, ‘Oh, it’s natural. I can walk. I can run. I can ski.’”
Coming back was nothing new. Gut missed the 2010 Olympics and an entire World Cup season after dislocating her right hip, but later won an overall World Cup title. Like so many other Alpine skiers at the Pyeongchang Games, Gut has dealt more than once with the rigorous process of recovering from the sort of long-term absence pretty much inevitable in a pursuit that involves hurtling
one’s body down the steep and icy side of a mountain at 60 mph or more.
“Maybe we’re crazy,” Gut said after Monday’s training. “Or maybe we just love what we do.”
When it comes to other sports, fans often hear about athletes sidelined for days at a time. A strained muscle here. A sore shoulder there. Not in Alpine racing. Not by a long shot. Like Gut, these Olympians’ statuses are best described as monthto-month or even year-toyear, rather than week-toweek — whether it’s from wrecked knees, assorted types of broken bones or banged-up backs. And they keep returning for more.
“That’s a part of the game. We all understand that,” said Lindsey Vonn, who won the 2010 Olympic downhill but missed the Sochi Games four years later after tearing ligaments in her right knee. “If you’re not willing to take the risk, then you’re probably in the wrong sport.”
Two-time downhill world championship medalist Nadia Fanchini of Italy, who is 31, said she’s had nine operations. The first was when she was 14; the most recent was in June for a broken right arm that took her off the slopes for about 10 months.
“When you come back after being out for a long time, you’re always behind all of the other racers and trying to catch back up,” Fanchini said.
“Your body just can’t do it, and your mind tells you that you have to keep pushing forward and keep trying,” she continued. “You have to work on your body, but you also have to work on your mind.”
The list of 2018 Alpine medalists is filled with folks who know that all too well.
Double gold winner Marcel Hirscher of Austria missed the 2011 world championships with a broken foot, although he otherwise had been remarkably injury-free on the way to collecting a record six consecutive overall World Cup titles. Then along came a broken left ankle during practice in August that everyone, including the man himself, figured would hamper his preparations for South Korea.
“I thought, ‘OK, that’s (it) for the season’ and ‘Next year is another year,’” said Hirscher, who six months later enters Thursday’s slalom a big favorite to become the fourth racer with three Alpine golds at one Olympics.