Andreas Sander out for Season with Knee Injury

German speed skier Andreas Sander announced via Instagram over the weekend that he suffered a cruciate ligament tear in his right knee while racing in Bormio, Italy, before the New Year.

According to his post, Sander’s knee began bothering him after the second training run in Bormio but improved enough so the 29-year-old could race both the downhill and super-G, where he finished 35th and 14th, respectively. Following the Bormio races, Sander’s knee continued to be an issue as the German speed team began their post-holiday training block in preparation for the races in Wengen, Switzerland, later this month. After an initial evaluation by team doctors recommended an MRI, the ligament rupture was discovered.

Bormio’s already challenging track was made exponentially more difficult this season by warm temperatures and rain being immediately followed by freezing conditions in the days before the series started after the Christmas holiday.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

❌ // News – News – News // ❌ Leider ist meine Saison vorzeitig beendet! In Bormio, im 2. Abfahrtstraining, habe ich nach dem Sprung etwas im Knie gespürt. Allerdings hatte es sich in den nächsten Tagen bei den Rennen nicht schlecht angefühlt. Nachdem ich in den letzten Tagen beim Skitraining immer noch ein leichtes Ziehen im Knie verspürt habe, habe ich es jetzt vom Arzt anschauen lassen. Diagnose —> Kreuzbandriss im rechten Knie. Das war natürlich sehr schockierend und überraschend für mich. Ich werde nächste Woche operiert. Trotzdem richtet sich mein Blick schon wieder nach vorn. Ich werde alles geben, damit ich zum Saisonbeginn für den nächsten Winter wieder fit bin. ?? ———————————————————————————————————— Unfortunately my season is over. In Bormio, in the 2nd downhill training, I felt something in the knee after the jump. However, it felt not bad in the races in the following days. After having still an unwell feeling in the knee during the last few days of ski training, the doctor took a look at it. Diagnosis -> cruciate ligament rupture in the right knee. Of course that was very shocking and surprising for me. I will do everything to get ready for next season. Euer Andi

A post shared by Andreas Sander (@andi_sander) on Jan 5, 2019 at 2:41am PST

Sander will undergo surgery and miss the remainder of the 2018-19 season. The German has 16 top-10 Word Cup finishes to his name and currently sits 18th in the men’s World Cup super-G standings. Sander’s teammate and 2018 Hahnenkamm downhill winner, Thomas Dressen, is also out for the season after crashing and injuring his knee in Beaver Creek last month.