Slovakian Veronika Velez Zuzulova, the second-best slalom skier to Mikaela Shiffrin last season, is on crutches one month before the start of the Olympic season.
She is out indefinitely with a knee injury while in Argentina for training on Sunday, according to Slovakian media. The Slovakian Ski Association has not responded to a request for comment.
Zuzulova, 33, won three World Cup slaloms between the last two seasons. Only Shiffrin, with 12 victories, has more.
Zuzulova finished second in the World Cup slalom season standings in 2016 (to Swede Frida Hansdotter; Shiffrin missed much of the season with a knee injury) and in 2017 (to Shiffrin, a massive 275 points behind).
Zuzulova, an Olympian in 2002, 2006 and 2010, missed the 2014 Sochi Winter Games after tearing her left ACL in October 2013.
The first World Cup slalom this season is Nov. 12 in Levi, Finland.
If Zuzulova is out, Shiffrin’s biggest rivals should be world silver medalist Wendy Holdener of Switzerland, plus another Slovakian, Petra Vlhova, and Hansdotter.
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