2023-09-07 15:34:42
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In the middle of the preparation, the Nordic combined athlete Alessandro Pittin from Italy is injured so badly that he will probably not start the season.
Munich – It mightn’t have gone worse. In the midst of preparations for the new Nordic Combined World Cup season, Italian combined athlete Alessandro Pittin was injured so badly that his season ended before the start of November.
Born:11. February 1990 (age 33), Tolmezzo, ItalyDiscipline:Nordic CombinedGreatest successes:1x bronze at the Olympic Games, 1x silver at the World Championships, 3x World Cup victoriesAt the Nordic World Ski Championships in Planica, Slovenia, at the end of February 2023, Alessandro Pittin fell in the outrun. At the time, however, he did not suffer any major injuries. © Vesa Moilanen/imago
Nordic combined Pittin tears his cruciate ligament in preparation for the season
At the Summer Grand Prix in Oberwiesenthal, Pittin fell while jumping off the hill and tore his cruciate ligament. He will have to take a break for at least half a year and will therefore definitely miss the upcoming World Cup season. Whether the injury might even mean the end of the career of the 33-year-old Nordic combined athlete is not yet clear.
The serious injury is of course bad news for the Italian. Pittin is one of the ten strongest cross-country skiers in the field and certainly wanted to step it up a notch with a view to the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan. Nothing will come of it now.
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Pittin has already been seriously injured in a fall in the past
For Pittin it is not the first serious injury in his career following a fall on the hill. In 2012, when the Italian was 21, he fell so badly that he had to be put under anesthesia on the spot. At that time he suffered a so-called dislocated fracture in his left shoulder.
At that time he fought back and was then able to win a total of three World Cup races. At the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver, Canada, he won bronze in the individual Nordic Combined race and silver at the 2015 World Ski Championships. At the 2014 games in Sochi, he finished fourth, just missing the podium.
German combined athletes in impressive early form
By the way, the German combined athletes were able to convince at the Summer Grand Prix in Oberwiesenthal. Julian Schmid was able to celebrate the perfect start to the new season with a start-finish victory. He laid the foundation for success with a new summer record on the hill (110 meters). Johannes Rydzek crossed the finish line in second place in 16.6 seconds, Austria’s Franz-Josef Rehrl was third.
So the Germans are already in an impressive early form, the competition, some of whom stayed away from the Summer Grand Prix, should be warned.
Ski racer Max Franz is already one step further than Pittin, he is in advanced training. But the 33-year-old has had a difficult few months, he completely missed last season, and this summer it is not certain whether he will be fit for the season opener.
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