BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) — Olympic slalom champion Petra Vlhova has been included in the Slovakia team for next month's Milan Cortina Games as she aims to make to a comeback from more than two years out with a knee injury.
The 30-year-old Vlhova hasn't competed since tearing ligaments in her right knee in January 2024 but will be among the 52 athletes to represent Slovakia at the Winter Games, the Slovak Olympic Committee announced Friday.
Vlhova said last week she was cleared by her medical team “for full skiing intensity.”
“I’ve decided to fight for the chance to compete,” she said then, but acknowledged that with the short time to prepare for the Olympics, “it might sound a bit crazy.”
“I will do my absolute best every single day to earn the chance to be part of the Slovak Olympic team,” she said.
Vlhova has long been American standout Mikaela Shiffrin's main rival in slalom.
The women’s slalom at the 2026 Olympics — the last skiing race on the schedule — is scheduled for Feb. 18 in Cortina d’Ampezzo. Vlhova said she would wait until 48 hours before the race before making her final decision on whether to compete.
She has been training this week in the Czech resort of Spindleruv Mlyn that will host World Cup slalom and giant slalom races over the weekend. She called her preparations “great” but does not plan to participate in those events.
Vlhova crashed and injured her knee on Jan. 20, 2024 in a World Cup giant slalom in the Slovak resort of Jasna near her hometown in the Tatra mountains.
Vlhova became the first Slovak skier to win the women's overall World Cup title in 2021. She has won a total of 31 World Cup races and her slalom gold at the 2022 Beijing Winter Games was Slovakia’s first ever Olympic medal in Alpine skiing.
AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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