'I am here to test my leg': Brignone back for Kronplatz GS

The news the whole of Italy, and much of the Alpine skiing world has been hoping for arrived on Monday: Federica Brignone (ITA/Rossignol) is returning to action.

The 2025 Giant Slalom world champion told reporters in Kronplatz that she will compete in Tuesday's Audi FIS World Cup GS, her first race since suffering a double leg break in April 2025.

Brignone was quick to stress that this is just the first step on a still long road to a full recovery, but the sight of her back on race skis will no doubt send ripples round a nation looking ahead keenly to next month's Olympic Winter Games.

With her leg improving "day by day, run by run" Brignone and her team took the decision just two days ago to compete in Kronplatz, a slope on which she has a GS win (2017) and two third-place finishes (2018 and 2023).

"We were going day-by-day, it has been really hard to have long-term goals. We put some goals weekly or daily mostly. Lately, we have been skiing and we said, ‘OK, if you have this confidence, if you can ski, if you can push we can think about racing before (the Olympic Games)," Brignone shared.

"Then we arrived to this conclusion when we said, “OK, it’s maybe good for me to try’.

"It’s a test about my mind and my body to race because we don’t know. OK we train but when you train (it’s) not with the same conditions. You don’t do two runs separated by three-four hours. You don’t have a long day like that. I have to warm-up so much for skiing and this is really hard. We need to test all of these things."

'I thought I wouldn't make it'

It has, and continues to be a huge battle for Brignone to get back to the sort of condition which delivered 10 World Cup wins across three disciplines last season.

"Every single day there was a moment when I thought I wouldn't make it," she said on Monday.

“Since I had my injury, I didn’t have any days with no pain. But this is OK. I mean when I can push in skiing, even if I feel pain, this is not a problem. It’s a problem when it’s so high (the pain) that the muscle doesn’t activate or I can’t push.

“Some days are better, some are really hard. But the pain is always there. For now, skiing is worse than normal life. But it depends. It’s still OK."

Olympics remain 'a big goal'

The 35-year-old, who already has an Olympic silver and two bronze medals in her trophy cabinet, is well aware what her compatriots want to know most. But for now, she does not have an answer.

While quick to acknowledge that her participation in Cortina D'Ampezzo also depends on the make-up of the Italian Olympic team, Brignone is keeping her plans short-term.

“My wish is that tomorrow I race and I hope that my body and my mind are ready to make two runs," she said.

"Then my plan is to go back to Cortina with the speed team, for speed training. I need many days, for sure speed comes a little bit less natural than GS, especially Downhill. And I need to test jumps and rolls. This is still all to test.

 “That’s my next goal for the next week. Then we will decide if we want to race also some speed events before the Olympics or if we keep on training.

“I want to race the Super G at the Olympics and if I can I would like to race also in Downhill but I still need to train and see if it’s makeable and if I have the level to make it.”

'A long way to go'

The Italian revealed she has had just 13 days training, having been unable to even get her GS skis back on until after Christmas.

All of which leaves her delighted to be back but unsure what to expect.

“I don’t know, I have no idea and I don’t care," he said when asked how fast she is.

“I hope that everything goes well and my leg goes better and better and to continue the season and to race all the other events but a long way to go.”

Racing starts with run one in Kronplatz at 10:30 CET, followed by the second run at 13:30 CET. Check here how to follow the action in your region.