Mélanie Meillard suffered a right knee injury during a training crash in Levi, forcing her out of the opening World Cup slalom of the season.
The 28-year-old Swiss skier crashed during slalom preparation in the Finnish resort, sustaining a distorsion to her right knee joint, Swiss-Ski announced. Her right knee had previously been spared from serious injuries, while her left knee had caused her difficulties in the past, according to Blick.
The technical specialist from Valais returned to Switzerland for further medical evaluations to determine the exact severity of the injury, with no final diagnosis or timeline yet established by the federation.
Meillard expressed her mixed feelings about the autumn conditions at the venue before the incident occurred.
“I look forward to coming to Levi every year. On the one hand, it’s nice that the season is starting again, and on the other hand, I just like Levi in general,” Meillard said, according to Sport.
She also addressed the lack of natural snow cover upon arrival in the north.
“Of course it’s nicer when we arrive and everything is white. We know how things are developing, you can’t do much about that,” Meillard added, according to Sport.
Following the accident, Meillard traveled back to Switzerland to undergo detailed medical examinations regarding the extent of the damage to her joint, Sport reported. She will sit out Saturday’s race alongside nine other Swiss competitors, including Camille Rast, Wendy Holdener, Eliane Christen, Janine Mächler, Aline Höpli, Selina Egloff, Aline Danioth, Nicole Good, and Anuk Brändli, according to Blick.
The sister of slalom world champion and Olympic champion Loïc Meillard now faces another setback after establishing herself firmly in the world elite over the past two years following earlier career injuries.
