PARIS - Two-time defending overall World Cup champion Anna Fenninger will miss the entire alpine skiing season after tearing ligaments in her right knee during training on Wednesday, the Austrian Ski Federation (OSV) announced.
Austria's Anna Fenninger competes in the first run of the Women's Giant Slalom race at the FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup finals in Meribel on March 22, 2015
Fenninger suffered a heavy crash during a training run in Solden ahead of Saturday's season-opening giant slalom and was "airlifted to hospital by helicopter to Innsbruck", according to the OSV.
Tests subsequently revealed the 26-year-old had torn both her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and lateral collateral ligament (LCL) as well as her patellar tendon. She will undergo surgery later on Wednesday.
"Season over for Anna Fenninger," announced the Austrian ski governing body, adding that the 26-year-old "will not participate in any races this season".
Fenninger had only returned to training last week after quitting a practice session at the end of September as a precautionary measure due to knee pain.
The three-time world champion and Olympic Super-G gold medallist won her second straight overall World Cup title last year after overhauling Slovenian rival Tina Maze, who announced she would miss the 2015/16 season to consider her future.
With Fenninger and Maze both missing, Lindsey Vonn will sense a real opportunity to earn a fifth World Cup overall title, but the American speed queen's participation in Saturday's curtain raiser is also in doubt.
Vonn, who celebrated her 31st birthday last Sunday, is still working her way back to full fitness from a broken ankle sustained during training in New Zealand on August 13.
"Excited to announce that I'm heading to Europe tomorrow and will be back on snow on Thursday," the four-time World Cup overall champion said Monday on Twitter.
"Just to be clear, I am still undecided on whether I will compete in the first race of the season in Solden," she added. "Will make a decision Friday."
Eva-Maria Brem enjoyed a breakthrough 2014/15 campaign -- the GS specialist recorded five podium finishes -- and will hope to build on last year's second-place finish in the discipline standings as she seeks to fill the void left behind by her compatriot Fenninger.
Mikaela Shiffrin, Lara Gut and Viktoria Rebensburg -- all previous winners in Solden -- will also fancy their chances of starting the season on a winning note with the three leading names on the women's circuit all potentially absent.
Marcel Hirscher has long been the dominant force amongst the men with the Austrian bidding for a fifth consecutive overall crown that would see him draw level with current record holder Marc Girardelli.
His quest begins with the men's giant slalom on Sunday with the 26-year-old again aiming to make the discipline his own, having won five of the eight races a year ago, including on home snow in Solden.
However, American Ted Ligety, who was slowed by a hand injury last season, leads a pack of challengers out to make life difficult for Hirscher.
"I think my set up is good. I made a lot of adjustments this year and I feel like I've made a good step forward, so we'll see," Ligety, the three-time giant slalom world champion, told media on the Rettenbach glacier.
"It's the same thing with your skiing - you don't really know until you test it in a World Cup, so it's still a little bit of a mystery," he added.
Aksel Lund Svindal, overall champion in 2007 and 2009, has also confirmed his presence this weekend after missing last season's event following a freak injury.
The Norwegian had been forced to pull out of racing when he tore his Achilles tendon while playing football with friends last October before making a remarkable recovery to return in time for February's world championships, placing sixth in both the downhill and Super-G.
Alexis Pinturault, Felix Neureuther and Henrik Kristoffersen will also be keen to remind Hirscher of their credentials at the weekend, while speed specialist Kjetil Jansrud, who finished as overall runner-up last season, will have his sights set on Lake Louise next month when the tour heads to Canada for downhill and Super-G events.