FILE PHOTO: Alpine Skiing - FIS Alpine Ski World Cup - Women's Giant Slalom - Kranjska Gora, Slovenia - January 6, 2024 Italy's Sofia Goggia in action REUTERS/Borut Zivulovic/File Photo
MILAN (Reuters) - Italian Olympic ski champion Sofia Goggia will miss the opening races of the World Cup season but hopes to be back in action before Christmas after an injury, she said on Friday.
Goggia broke the tibia in her right leg when she crashed in training giant slalom in February, ending her season at a time when she was leading the World Cup downhill standings.
"If all goes well, I'd like to be back in competitions in mid-December at Beaver Creek," Goggia, 31, said at the Italian Winter Sports Federation (FISI) media day in Milan.
Goggia is a four-time winner of the overall downhill World Cup title and raced to gold in the downhill at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics and silver at the 2022 Beijing Games.
However, her career has been marred by a series of injuries.
"Emotionally, this time was very difficult but I made every effort to recover. I would be intellectually dishonest if I talked about goals now without even actually having touched snow," she said.
Goggia added that she had no expectations for the season but just wanted "progress, without any hurry".
"I want to ski, I want to give it a go, the drive to push myself hard is still there despite seven injuries," she said.
(Reporting by Elvira Pollina; Writing by Keith Weir; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
