Elena Curtoni fell so spectacularly.

Broken bones: Bad diagnoses for Curtoni and Ortlieb

The speed specialists' season is only one World Cup race old - and there are already high-profile and serious failures to complain about.

08 December 2023

From: det

Italy's women's speed team suffered its first injury shock on Thursday evening before the first race. Karoline Pichler tore her meniscus in a fall and will have to undergo surgery. The next day, her teammate Elena Curtoni also had a bad time at the Super-G in St. Moritz.

After 40 seconds of driving, the Italian was knocked out by a wave and flew spectacularly through the air. Although Curtoni was able to get up on his own after this fall and gave the all-clear, a later investigation showed that the crash did not leave the Azzurra without a trace. As the Italian winter sports association announced, Curtoni suffered a complicated fracture of the sacrum. As a result, the 32-year-old will have to take a break for several weeks.

Curtoni's fall from minute 0.40

Ortlieb is awaiting her 20th operation

The Austrian Nina Ortlieb had it even worse. Actually, she would have been one of the big favorites at the races in St. Moritz, but then came the downhill runner-up Difficult to fall when driving in. Initial examinations revealed a fractured tibia and fibula; this injury was confirmed during a detailed check in Schruns (Austria). Ortlieb is out for the rest of the season - and now has to undergo an operation. Unbelievable but true: It's the 20th (!) in her career.