Desperate ski ace: “It’s a nightmare”

Professional skiing is one of the most dangerous sports in the world. Anyone who gets through their career without breaking bones or torn cruciate ligaments is the exception and not the rule. But what a young Swedish ski racer is currently going through shows that the ski god simply doesn't mean well for her.

Lisa Hörnblad suffered a serious knee injury at the Super-G in Cortina d'Ampezzo a week ago. “Torn cruciate ligament, collateral ligaments, menisci. My knee is basically destroyed,” she wrote on social media. The operation finally took place in Sweden on Monday, after which she announced: “Unfortunately, the injury is even worse than initially thought. However, the doctors did a fantastic job.” Two and a half years of work for six months As mentioned at the beginning, a torn cruciate ligament is nothing unusual in skiing. The bad luck that Hörnblad has, but yes. The 25-year-old also tore her cruciate ligament in 2019, but in the other knee. The way back proved to be very difficult. The speed specialist only returned to the World Cup in November 2021 – two and a half years after the injury. The Swede had high hopes for the Olympics, but now she has had another mishap.

Lisa Hörnblad was seriously injured. © AFP / JOE KLAMAR

“I gave two and a half years and got six months back. Six months to do what I love: skiing. But that’s it for me for now,” are the emotional words of Hörnblad, who adds: “It feels like a nightmare. I just can’t believe it’s happening.” In 2019 she saved a man's life In her career, the 25-year-old, who is in a relationship with Swedish NHL player Rasmus Sandin (Toronto Maple Leafs), has competed in 32 World Cup races and taken part in the Olympic Games and World Championships. She achieved her best placement at the home World Championships in Åre in 2019, when she came in 9th place. Hörnblad even celebrated a victory on South Tyrolean soil once when she triumphed in the European Cup downhill in Sarntal in 2017.

The ski racer was in the international media because of another circumstance: in 2019, she and two teammates saved the life of a German official in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. The 60-year-old had suffered a heart attack in a gondola, whereupon the three Swedes provided first aid. Hörnblad performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation until the rescue helicopter arrived at the mountain station.

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Desperate ski ace: “It’s a nightmare”

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