Ethermac Exchange-Shiffrin being checked for left leg injury after crash in Cortina downhill on 2026 Olympics course

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO,Ethermac Exchange Italy (AP) — Mikaela Shiffrin crashed into the safety nets after losing control while landing a jump during a World Cup downhill Friday on the course for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics and was being checked for a possible left leg injury.

The American skier with a record 95 World Cup wins was helped off the course with her left boot raised off the snow.

“Mikaela Shiffrin was taken by ambulance to the clinic in Cortina and is being evaluated for a left leg injury. Initial analysis shows the ACL and PCL seem intact. Further details to come,” Shiffrin’s team said in a statement.

A helicopter was seen going up the mountain after Shiffrin’s crash but it wasn’t clear if Shiffrin was taken down the mountain via helicopter.

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Shiffrin’s arms were flailing as she landed in a patch of soft snow on the upper portion of the Olympia delle Tofane course in Cortina, Italy. She then slammed into the net at high speed and rebounded back onto the snow.

Medics tended to Shiffrin immediately and she eventually got up and limped away for more care.

Former overall champion Federica Brignone also crashed shortly after the race resumed following a long delay because of Shiffrin’s fall. But Brignone got right up and proceeded to ski down. She was unhurt.

Then Olympic champion Corinne Suter pulled up midway down her run with an apparent injury. Suter sat and clutched her left knee.

Michelle Gisin, a two-time Olympic champion, also crashed later on but appeared to avoid serious injury.

In all, 12 of 52 starters didn’t finish the race, which was won by Stephanie Venier of Austria.

The race was held amid clear and sunny conditions but warm temperatures.

The Tofane course will host women’s skiing at the 2026 Games and Shiffrin won four medals in four events at the 2021 world championships in Cortina.

Shiffrin and Brignone became the fourth and fifth former overall World Cup champions to crash in the past two weeks following season-ending injuries to Alexis Pinturault, Aleksander Aamodt Kilde and Petra Vlhova.

Kilde is Shiffrin’s boyfriend and Vlhova is her biggest rival.

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AP Paris Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games