Marlies Schild injured, out for World Champs

Austria’s Marlies Schild will not be able to defend her world slalom title in less than two months at Schladming as she suffered another serious knee injury during her warmup training at Are Thursday morning.

Arguably the best slalom specialist on the tour (33 victories) fell while training, tearing ligaments in her right knee as confirmed by doctors in Innsbruck. She’ll now undergo surgery and will need at least three weeks prior starting intensive rehab.

“I hit a roll and caught some air, landing on my back. My ski also got caught while crashing and I feel pain in my right knee and back at the moment,” said Schild after her crash.

“Marlies had already done some training runs, and was skiing well. In comparison to her training partners she’d shown how well in form she is. After her cold she was again ready to attack,“ said ladies’ head coach Herbert Mandl.
 
Schild was often been plagued by bad injuries at the beginning of her career. Three years ago she also seriously injured her ankle while training in Soelden.

With her win in Are this week, American Mikaela Shiffrin currently leads the slalom standings.