Austria's Katharina Liensberger to miss Olympics with knee injury

Field Level Media|published: Fri 2nd January, 20:22 2026

Austria's Katharina Liensberger in the women's giant slalom at the World Cup at Mont-Tremblant Ski Resort on Dec. 7, 2025.

Austria's Katharina Liensberger, the 2022 Olympics slalom silver medalist, miss the upcoming 2026 Winter Olympics after suffering a right knee injury in a training crash in St. Michael, Austria.

According to the Austrian ski federation, the 28-year-old suffered multiple injuries to the knee, including a fractured tibial plateau, a torn meniscus and a medial collateral ligament ahead of this weekend's World Cup races in Slovenia. The federation stated she would undergo surgery Friday.

In addition to the slalom silver in Beijing, Liensberger won a team gold at the 2022 Games, was a slalom world champion in 2021 and was expected to be one of the primary threats to America star Mikaela Shiffrin this year. Liensberger has four top-10 finishes this season and is ranked 10th in the slalom standings.

The 2026 Milano Cortina Games in Italy begin next month.

--Field Level Media