Season already over for Dumermuth

Dumermuth has a long history of injuries Keystone

After a summer virtually free of injury worries, the Swiss ski team have received another late blow with the news that Monika Dumermuth has been ruled out for the whole of the coming season.

Dumermuth, a member of the women’s national A-team, has torn a cruciate ligament and is set to miss out on both the world cup campaign and February’s Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

The 24-year-old skier from Bern has already suffered three previous major injuries. After earlier breaking her left leg, Dumermuth has now torn her cruciate ligaments three times. The latest tear is the second in her left knee.

Prior to her fresh setback, the unlucky athlete had appeared close to making an impressive comeback. After celebrating two wins on the European Cup circuit and having the screws from her previous knee surgery removed, Dumermuth earned a promotion to the full national team which she will now have to forego.

Swiss-Ski also announced on Saturday that long-term absentee Jürg Grünenfelder is still far from making a return to competitive sport. The downhill specialist has been out of action since sustaining a serious knee injure during last year’s summer training.

After suffering recurring pains in his knee for the last month, the 27-year-old skier is now likely to undergo another operation.

Earlier this week, the Swiss ski team announced that top downhillers Franco Cavegn and Silvano Beltrametti had also picked up knee injuries, although both are expected to be fully fit for the first downhill event of the season which is still more than a month away.

swissinfo with agencies