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Italy's Marta Bassino suffers leg fracture with home Olympics in doubt

Marta Bassino in action back in January
Marta Bassino in action back in JanuaryReuters / Gintare Karpaviciute

Italian Marta Bassino faces a battle to be fit for next year's Winter Olympics on home snow after suffering a leg fracture during training on Wednesday, ahead of the start of the World Cup season.

Bassino, 29, was preparing in Val Senales for this weekend's season-opening giant slalom in Solden, Austria, when she crashed on a flat section and injured her leg.

"She was immediately assisted by the FISI Medical Commission, she went to the Merano hospital, where an X-ray revealed a lateral fracture of the tibial plateau of her left leg," an Italian Winter Sports Federation statement said.

"Marta is currently undergoing an additional control CT scan to further assess the extent of the injury, after which the FISI Medical Commission, in agreement with the athlete, will decide how to proceed."

Bassino specialises in giant slalom and has won six World Cup races in that discipline. She is also a world champion in super-G, winning the speed event in Meribel in 2023.

Her injury is another setback for Italy ahead of next February's Milan/Cortina d'Ampezzo Games after reigning World Cup overall champion Federica Brignone suffered a serious left leg injury during the national championships in April.

"I don't think I'll be able to come back exactly as I was before," the 35-year-old Brignone said at a FISI media day last week. "I'm sorry, but it's not these Olympics that will change my life and career. What I've done, I've done, and in fact I've done much more than I could ever have dreamed of.

"It would be a bonus, it would be a beautiful dream."