Several top alpine skiers will be missing when the World Cup season begins in the Austrian resort of Soelden at the weekend with giant slalom races.
For veterans Bode Miller and Tina Maze, question marks still remain on their World Cup comebacks, while Lindsey Vonn, Aksel Lund Svindal, Anna Veith and Viktoria Rebensburg are among leading skiers not ready to race
following injuries.
LINDSEY VONN
The four-time overall World Cup champion will, along with US teammate Julia Mancuso, be among top skiers absent in the Oetztal.
“I’ll be back on skis soon and training here at home, but unfortunately I won’t be heading to Soelden for the first race this year,” Vonn said on her Facebook page.
“I’m disappointed I won’t be there but my goals for this season are focused more on downhill and super-g races.”
Vonn was leading the World Cup standings last season but a hairline knee fracture at the end of February ended her season. She is now only 10 victories away from equalling Ingemar Stenmark’s all-timebest mark of 86 wins.
Bode Miller, now turned 39, is reportedly targeting a comeback but has not fully recovered from a back problem. Following injury at the 2015 world championships, his skiing career appeared over as he devoted his time to his family and horse training.
However in September his comeback was announced in a lawsuit he filed against Head USA in a federal court in Los Angeles. In the lawsuit,
Miller said he wanted to compete in this season’s World Cup races. Reports have suggested he will pick and choose his races.
TINA MAZE
The 33-year-old Slovenian, the overall World Cup winner in 2013, took a year off last season, but is now ready to return – she is expected to make an official announcement in Soelden on Thursday. The two-time Olympic and world champion has working as a television pundit and has been devoting time to her jewellery design collection. Slovenian media reports say she will take part in selected World Cup speed races and the world championships next year in St Moritz before retiring.
AKSEL LUND SVINDAL
A knee injury at Kitzbuehel in January wrecked the Norwegian’s 2015-2016 season, and it has been a long road back. The two-time
overall World Cup champion, Olympic champion and five-time world champion is training but says his rehab is not complete. Svindal, 33, is not up to speed for Soelden but may have one eye on the speed races at the end of November in Canada and the United States.
ANNA VEITH
After her two overall World Cup victories in 2014 and 2015 under her maiden name Fenninger, the Austrian skier missed the whole of last season following a severe knee injury in October last year while training for the Soelden season opener. Veith is back in training but it is not clear when she will return.
“The season is starting – but I have noticed that I need more time,” she said on her Facebook page. Veith is not yet able to race ski as she would like just yet and Soelden always looked as if it were coming too early. She wants a competitive return: “I promise you – I will do everything to be back in the World Cup very soon.”
VIKTORIA REBENSBURG
The 2010 Olympic giant slalom champion from Germany will have to miss out in Soelden in her best discipline after suffering a knee injury in pre-season training at the beginning of the month. Rebensburg was told she would need six weeks to recover, giving her hope she could still make it back in time for the North American tour at the end of November.
LINDSEY VONN
