Olympic slalom champion Petra Vlhova will continue to be sidelined from competition until at least mid-January.
She still has discomfort in her right knee that was surgically repaired last winter and will undergo more medical tests next month.
“Not everything is going as planned, and Petra is not having the happiest time in this context,” Mauro Pini, Vlhova’s coach, said in a statement. “Nevertheless, we are fully united as a team and working hard to support her return to the competitive skiing she loves. I expect we will know more about her ability to handle full load by the end of December.”
Vlhova, a 29-year-old Slovakian, has been sidelined since falling in a Jan. 20 race, tearing at least one right knee ligament.
On Oct. 21, Vlhova said she had no pain. In mid-November, her team said that she planned to return to on-snow training in early December.
On Thursday, her team said mid-January is “the earliest date possible” to return to the World Cup, “but it all depends on the results and knee response.”
Pini said medical exams at a check-up “confirmed a very good condition” of the area that was operated and “high knee stability.”
“Despite the positive news, Petra is still experiencing discomfort in her knee, which is incompatible with full skiing load,” according to Vlhova’s team. “Comprehensive examinations revealed cartilage damage, which requires further specialized care.”
Vlhova has been Mikaela Shiffrin’s primary rival in the slalom for the last six years.
In 68 World Cup slaloms between March 2017 and November 2024, Shiffrin won 38, Vlhova won 21 and the rest of the world won nine.
Shiffrin is currently sidelined indefinitely after falling in a Nov. 30 giant slalom, suffering a puncture wound in the right side of her abdomen and severe muscle trauma.
The next World Cup races in Vlhova and Shiffrin’s best events of slalom and GS are Dec. 28-29 in Semmering, Austria, and Jan. 4-5 in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia.
Austrian Katharina Liensberger is the only other active woman to win a World Cup season title in slalom, doing so in 2021.
