Brignone still aiming for Olympics, wants to leave on her terms
MILAN, June 18 (Reuters) - Italy's Alpine ski champion Federica Brignone said she was doing all she could to be fit for her home Milan-Cortina Olympics next year and wanted to retire smiling on the slopes rather than forced out by injury.
The 34-year-old told reporters on Wednesday, however, that it was still too early to say whether she would win the battle.
"I got injured at the best moment of my career, of my life," Brignone said at an event in Milan for her sponsor Banca Generali.
"And this is bothering me. I do not want to retire from ski now, like that. I loved this sport so much that I want to retire when I am happy, feeling good on the slopes."
Overall World Cup champion Brignone, who was a leading medal hope at the Games, fractured her left leg and tore knee ligaments when she crashed during a race in the Italian championships in April.
The giant slalom world champion said she remained positive but also realistic and had to respect her body and do what was best for herself.
"My first goal is my health and that will continue to be and it won't change because of external pressures, in the sense that if my body won't make it, it won't make it. I think it will make it and I am very positive, it is responding," she said.
"Some things are going really beyond expectations. Some other things are giving me a hard time, but it's normal, actually after suffering that kind of injury.
"I think I'll be back for the winter. But that's not something I can predict."
Brignone said she would not know until the crutches came off for good how much load she could put on the leg.
"Obviously it was destroyed, so that has to be respected," she added.
The World Cup season starts in October with the Olympics running from February 6-22.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
2 hours ago
- Reuters
Pirates RHP Dennis Santana suspended 4 games over fan interaction
June 20 - Major League Baseball gave Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Dennis Santana a four-game suspension on Friday for "his aggressive conduct toward a fan" that saw him take a swing at someone heckling him from behind the bullpen. Santana's suspension was set to begin Friday, but the pitcher has elected to appeal the discipline. Santana's run-in with the fan took place during the second game of a doubleheader at the Detroit Tigers on Thursday. A Tigers spokesperson confirmed to news outlets that the fan was ejected from the park. Video of the incident posted to social media showed Santana leave his feet and take a swing at the fan who was standing over the railing. A Pirates coach ran in to guide Santana away from the stands. Speaking via an interpreter after the game, Santana explained that the fan "crossed the line too many times" but that it didn't justify his own actions. He declined to say what the fan did or said to him. "You guys know me and know my temper," Santana said. "I'm a calm person. They just crossed the line a few times. I would like to leave it like that." Santana later entered that game and faced one batter before a rain delay interrupted the game. Santana, 29, is in his first full season with Pittsburgh after the Pirates selected him off waivers from the New York Yankees in June 2024. In parts of eight MLB seasons for five clubs, Santana is 13-16 with nine saves and a 4.38 ERA across 237 appearances (one start). --Field Level Media
Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Michelle O's latest Barack hate... Lizzo's big fat Ozempic lie... and why one-eyed Caitlin Clark should quit: KENNEDY's wicked weekly roundup
Cat fight! If you thought the success of the WNBA meant women's athletics had finally progressed beyond sexy mudwrestling and lingerie football, think again.
Reuters
3 hours ago
- Reuters
Paulino pips Nasir, Cherotich beats Chemutai at Paris Diamond League
PARIS, June 20 (Reuters) - Olympic champion Marileidy Paulino outfought Salwa Eid Naser to win the women's 400 metres at the Paris Diamond League meet on Friday, Faith Cherotich won the steeplechase and Grace Stark set a personal best to outgun Tobi Amusan in the 100m hurdles. Dominican Republic's Paulino needed a season's best time of 48.81, a new meeting record, as the world champion came from behind to pip Bahrain's Naser, who took silver at last year's Olympics. "All I focused on was to get to through to the finish line feeling strong, although I am not feeling very well, my stomach has been playing up a bit," Paulino said. Kenyan Cherotich took bronze at the Paris Olympics behind Ugandan silver medallist Peruth Chemutai in the 3,000m steeplechase, and the pair left the rest of the field behind early in the race. This time 20-year-old Cherotich came out on top as she left her rival behind in the closing metres, with a personal best time of 8:53.37, to repeat her wins in Doha and Oslo. "It's great that I have already won three Diamond Leagues this season being the youngest in the field," Cherotich said. "The big goal are the World Championships in Tokyo and I want to win." Nigeria's world record holder and 2022 world champion Amusan had to settle for second place as American 24-year-old Stark led from the start to win the women's 100m hurdles in 12.21 seconds, knocking one tenth of a second off her personal best. "I wanted to break that 12.3 so bad, I was really pushing for it in Stockholm," Stark said. "I'm just so excited to break 12.3, I really knew I could do it this year." In the men's 400m hurdles, Olympic champion Rai Benjamin barely broke sweat in setting a meeting record 46.93, doing enough down the home straight to hold off Qatar's Abderrahman Samba, who had set the previous record back in 2018. "I just took it easy because we just had a really fast race in Stockholm. There was no need to come out and force something, especially because the season is so long," Benjamin said. Ukrainian Olympic high jump champion Yaroslava Mahuchikh broke the world record with a leap of 2.10 meters at last year's meeting, but she could only manage 1.97 this time to take second place behind Australia's Nicola Olyslagers. The men's 1,500m may not have been a Diamond League event, but the race had the home crowd on their feet as France's Azeddine Habz smashed the national record with a world leading time of 3:27.49. Habz took almost a second and a half off the previous record set in 2003, and ran the sixth fastest time ever over the distance. "It's incredible, there is no other word," Habz said. "I had come to this meeting with the goal of breaking the French record." Kenya's Phanuel Kipkosgei Koech came second with an impressive 3:27.72, breaking the world under-20 record. Another non-Diamond League race, the men's 3000m steeplechase, saw the return to the track of Ethiopia's Lamecha Girma after his heavy fall which left him unconscious at the Paris Olympics. Girma returned to the scene of his world record from 2023, and was happy to get the race, and win, under his belt. "This is a big thing for me today, especially after the Paris Olympics," Girma said. "It feels it was a long time ago, so this was very important for me. The legs not much of a problem, but I was a little scared. Now that the race is finished I feel much better."
