Germany's top female skier Viktoria Rebensburg will miss the rest of the season after tearing the medial ligament in her left knee, it was confirmed on Wednesday.
The 25-year-old, who claimed giant slalom silver in February's world championships, suffered the injury while training and will need to wear a plaster cast for up to two weeks, the German Ski Federation (DSV) confirmed.
Rebensburg will miss Saturday's downhill and Sunday's Super G World Cup races on home soil at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, plus two races in Are, Sweden, before the season finale in Meribel, France.
"The ski got trapped in a gate and it meant my knee got twisted," said Rebensburg.
"Of course, it is really annoying that it happened just before a home race in Garmisch-Partkenkirchen, but on the other hand it could have been worse."
Rebensburg is ranked sixth behind leader Tina Maze of Slovenia for the overall World Cup title and is third in the downhill rankings behind Lindsey Vonn of the United States.
Source: AFP