Ski exotic has to swallow a bitter pill. © Instagram

For a ski exotic: World Cup comes to a sad end

The Ski World Championships in Saalbach-Hinterglemm were an exhilarating event. But not for everyone: Between the jubilation and joy there were also broken hearts, such as that of one exotic skier.

17. February 2025

From: det

Of course: the focus, the spotlight, at a World Championship is on the superstars, the favorites, the medal winners. But it is also the exotic athletes that give such championships a special magic. Skiers from the most remote corners of the world come to the World Championship to live their dream and fight their way down the mountain. The fact that they usually finish several seconds behind doesn't matter.

Greta Small is one such exotic skier. She is 29 years old and a real perennial favorite at world championships. The all-rounder has competed in 20 international championships. By comparison, Mikaela Shiffrin has competed in the World Cup starting line 19 times. And so it was hardly surprising that Small also took to the slopes in Saalbach-Hinterglemm. However, her World Cup came to a sad end. In the women's downhill, the Australian tore her cruciate ligament - not for the first time in her career.

Greta Small at her World Cup appearance in Saalbach. © AFP / FABRICE COFFRINI

"I am devastated to say that I tore my cruciate ligament for the fourth time during the downhill race at the World Championships," she wrote on Instagram, adding a broken heart emoji. "It took a few days to process it and move on. Within 24 hours of the injury, I was on a plane back to Australia for medical treatment."

She lives out of a suitcase and on donations

Greta Small's story is a special one. As a small child, she fell in love with the sport in one of Australia's very few ski resorts. Later, Small left the Australian sun behind and moved to Pitztal (Austria), where she worked on her big dream. A dream that led her to an impressive 69 World Cup starts, and she even made it into the points twice.

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Small travels the world of skiing for eight months a year, lives out of a suitcase, and finances her career partly through donations. And she has been able to get back up after every serious injury so far. Even the fourth cruciate ligament tear is not going to be the end. "I'll be back," wrote Small combatively.