Olympic exit: Austria loses a ski star

Austria's ski team is shaken by devastating news: A slalom star has suffered a serious injury in training.

02 January 2026

From: det

The Olympic Games are fast approaching. In just over a month, the mega-event begins in northern Italy. But now, of all times, there's bitter news for the Austrian ski team: Katharina Liensberger has suffered a serious injury in training and will miss the Winter Games.

The accident occurred during giant slalom training in St. Michael im Lungau (Salzburg region), when the 28-year-old from Vorarlberg suffered a serious fall. A rescue helicopter then transported Liensberger to Innsbruck, where she underwent thorough examinations at the Hochrum Clinic. The diagnosis: a fractured tibial plateau as well as a torn meniscus and medial collateral ligament in her right knee. Liensberger will undergo surgery today, Friday.

World champion and Olympic silver medalist

This is devastating news for Liensberger and the Austrian ski team. The technical specialist is one of the ÖSV's biggest slalom hopes: Liensberger has already won three races in that discipline and achieved a total of 17 podium finishes. In 2021, the 28-year-old became slalom world champion and also won the gold medal in the parallel race. A year later, "Kathi" celebrated winning silver in the Olympic slalom in Beijing.

Liensberger achieved her best result of the season at Semmering shortly before the end of the year. © APA / GEORG HOCHMUTH

Liensberger had been steadily improving throughout the season and just a few days ago narrowly missed her first podium finish of the winter, coming in fourth at Semmering. Now her season has come to an end.

Keywords Winter sports Alpine skiing Katharina Liensberger