Swiss alpine skiing star Lara Gut-Behrami, the reigning Olympic and World Cup champion, has undergone a successful knee operation after a serious training injury but the outcome means she will not compete at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy.
In late November 2025, Gut-Behrami suffered a severe knee injury in training, tearing her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), medial collateral ligament (MCL) and meniscus in her left knee an injury confirmed after extensive medical examinations. That damage ended her 2025–26 season immediately, and Swiss Ski officially announced that she would miss the entirety of the Olympic campaign at Milano-Cortina 2026.
The subsequent surgery, performed on 1 December, went well according to Gut-Behrami and her team, and she confirmed the operation’s success on social media. However, the timing of the injury means the necessary rehabilitation window extends well beyond the closing of the Olympic Games in February 2026. Athletes returning from combined ligament reconstructions typically require several months of progressive therapy and sport-specific conditioning before World Cup racing and the Olympic qualifying period has already closed.
Before the crash, Gut-Behrami had already announced that the 2025–26 season would be her final competitive year, intending to retire following the Winter Games. The injury therefore not only cost her a chance to defend her Olympic titles including super-G and giant slalom medals but also prematurely curtailed her competitive swansong.
In short, despite a successful operation, Gut-Behrami’s return in time for Milano-Cortina 2026 was not medically or logistically feasible, and she will be absent from the Olympic alpine skiing roster.
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