Italian Speedster Schnarf To Miss 2018/19 Season

Veteran speed skier Johanna “Hanna” Schnarf of Italy, one of the friendliest faces on the Audi FIS Alpine World Cup tour, sustained a season-ending injury during giant slalom training at Copper Mountain (USA) on 13th November. She will miss the 2018/19 competition season after sustaining a displaced tibia and fibula fracture in her left leg. 

Schnarf underwent surgery in Vail, Colorado, where she will remain for the next few days while recovering. She will return to Italy once she is medically cleared for travel. 

The 34-year-old finished second in the Cortina (ITA) super-G last season for the second podium finish in her lengthy career. The other came in the Crans Montana (SUI) downhill in 2010, the same season she placed fourth in the Olympic Winter Games super-G at Whistler. The Italian has started in 189 World Cup races, the first in Lake Louise back in 2004. 

Schnarf came on strongly in the past two seasons by finishing off 2017 ranked sixth in the downhill standings and in 2018 ranked eighth in the super-G standings. She contemplated retirement at the end of the 2018 winter but committed to another season on the circuit where she was looking forward to participating in her sixth FIS World Ski Championships for the second time at Åre (SWE).