Olympic slalom champion Petra Vlhova will not be competing in the upcoming Alpine skiing world championships due to complications in her recovery from a knee injury, as her team announced on Monday.
Vlhova has long been a key contender against Mikaela Shiffrin in the slalom discipline over the past decade. However, Shiffrin’s own participation in the championships in Saalbach, Austria, is uncertain as she continues to recover from abdominal surgery following an accident in November.
For Vlhova, her last competitive outing was marred by a torn ACL in her right knee, an injury sustained during a crash at a World Cup giant slalom event in Slovakia one year ago. Her coach, Mauro Pini, expressed disappointment, stating that setbacks experienced in December and January have ultimately prevented her from competing at the world championships. “We had hoped she could compete for medals, but that won’t happen this time,” he remarked.
The 29-year-old skier is now placing her focus on the approaching Winter Olympics, with her coach indicating that her rehabilitation is progressing positively. “Petra’s knee rehabilitation is finally on the right track, with encouraging progress every day,” he noted.
By not attending the championships in Saalbach, Vlhova will break a streak of six consecutive world competitions, having made her debut at the young age of 17 in 2013. To date, she has secured five medals in the biannual events, including a gold in giant slalom at the 2019 championships in Are, Sweden, where Shiffrin earned a bronze medal.
If all goes as planned, the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina d’Ampezzo will mark Vlhova’s fourth Olympic appearance. She achieved her long-awaited Olympic medal in her tenth race, winning the slalom event at the Beijing Olympics three years prior.
