Beijing 2022 - Austria's Roland Leitinger's Olympic dream over as serious knee injury ends season early
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Updated 10/11/2021 at 09:35 GMT
The giant slalom specialist tore his anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee while training in Schladming, ending his season early. Leitinger says it feels "extremely bitter" having missed the 2018 Pyeongchang Games after suffering the same injury ahead of the Olympics that year.
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Roland Leitinger says he feels "history has repeated itself" after an anterior cruciate ligament tear ended his season early, and his hopes of representing Austria at the Winter Olympics.
The 30-year-old also suffered the same serious knee injury in the build-up to the Pyeongchang Games in 2018, and he has suffered the same issue ahead of Beijing 2022, after a fall during training in Schladming.
The giant slalom specialist is to have surgery to repair the ligament in the coming days.
“That is extremely bitter. Now history repeats itself. I already missed the season in 2018 because of a torn cruciate ligament, ” said Leitinger.
“At the moment I feel a great emptiness. I have to let that sink in for now."
Leitinger had started the World Cup in exceptional form, finishing second at a home event in Soelden with a stunning run, though Switzerland's Marco Odermatt eventually took victory.
He has never won an event on the premier circuit, but he has two podium finishes and would have been regarded as an outside shot for an Olympic medal in China, having won silver at the World Championships in 2019.
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