Federica Brignone successfully undergoes left knee surgery: return to physical activity expected in four to six weeks
Italian ski champion Federica Brignone successfully underwent surgery in Milan on August 25, 2026, where a plate and screws that had been inserted in her left knee after the serious injury she suffered in April 2025 were removed. According to the Italian Winter Sports Federation (FISI), the procedure was performed under general anesthesia by Andrea Panzeri, president of the federation's medical commission, at the La Madonnina clinic. A follow-up arthroscopy confirmed the condition the medical team had expected, so no additional surgical procedure was necessary, including the possible intervention on the meniscus that had been considered before the operation. After the procedure, Panzeri estimated that the 36-year-old Brignone could gradually return to physical activity in approximately four to six weeks, noting that recovery will depend on healing and the knee's response. The day after the operation, Brignone was discharged from the clinic and, according to FISI's announcement and a report by the ANSA agency, began a new phase of rehabilitation.
Materials implanted after the serious 2025 injury removed
The operation in Milan was a continuation of treatment for the injury Brignone suffered on April 3, 2025, during the second run of the giant slalom at the Italian championships at the Alpe Lusia ski resort in Val di Fassa. FISI reported at the time that imaging had shown a displaced multifragmentary fracture of the tibial plateau and the head of the fibula in the left leg, while subsequent examinations also established an injury to the medial ligament complex and a rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament. On the same day, surgery was performed at the La Madonnina clinic to stabilize the fractures and surgically treat the medial ligament section of the knee. The plate and screws that have now been removed were part of that internal fixation and accompanied Brignone for more than a year through a lengthy rehabilitation, her return to snow and ultimately her return to competitive rhythm. Their removal was not unexpected in the context of the earlier surgery, but the decision became particularly important after the athlete again experienced pain during the summer under greater loads and while skiing.
Immediately before the new procedure, Brignone announced through her channels that the condition of her leg continued to improve, but that the pain had not completely disappeared during certain activities and skiing. According to ANSA, the main objective of the operation was to remove the plate and clean the surgical area, while the decision on a possible procedure on the meniscus was to be made only after examining the inside of the joint with an arthroscope. After the operation, Panzeri explained that no additional intervention had been necessary. He also stated that the cartilage was partially damaged, but that the condition of the meniscus was satisfactory and that the overall condition of the joint was better than he had expected. The doctor also cautioned that an improvement in pain was considered a realistic possibility, but that at this stage the complete disappearance of symptoms could not be guaranteed.
Rehabilitation begins immediately, but return to snow will not be forced
According to FISI, Brignone is beginning physiotherapy immediately, while during the first few days after discharge she will use crutches to protect the operated area. Panzeri estimated that she could need four to six weeks to return gradually to physical activity, emphasizing that the surgical incisions and soft tissues affected by the operation must heal first. Such an estimate does not automatically mean a return to full ski training at the same time. For an elite alpine skier, loads on snow involve significantly greater forces, rotations and pressure on the knee than controlled rehabilitation or basic conditioning work. For that reason, the actual schedule of ski training will depend on clinical check-ups, muscle strengthening, joint stability and whether the pain that prompted the operation actually decreases.
After leaving the clinic, Brignone said that she felt well and was satisfied with the condition of her knee, describing the next step as rehabilitation after a short period on crutches. The medical estimate of four to six weeks would place her gradual return to physical activity approximately at the end of September or the beginning of October, but for now there is no official confirmation of when she could again train on snow at full intensity or when she would be ready to compete. This is also important because of the 2026/27 World Cup calendar, which, according to the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS), begins with a giant slalom weekend in Sölden on October 24 and 25. The mere fact that the start of the new season is approaching does not mean that Brignone will try to compete at the opening event, because her medical team and coaching staff also made decisions gradually during her previous recovery. The current priority is recovery after the operation and an assessment of whether removing the metal implants can reduce the pain that reappeared under skiing loads.
Summer plans changed after pain returned
As recently as the end of July, it appeared that Brignone might enter a more conventional preparation rhythm for the new season. On July 30, FISI announced that she had put on skis again on the glacier in Cervinia, for the first time since she had prematurely ended her shortened 2025/26 season at the beginning of March because of the need to reduce the strain on her body after an exceptionally demanding comeback. She then completed two days of lighter skiing in the company of her brother and coach Davide Brignone, before a planned trip to Ushuaia in Argentina for approximately a month of training on the winter snow of the Southern Hemisphere. The emphasis of that plan was primarily on checking the health of the knee and only then on technical and competitive form. The appearance of pain during activity and skiing changed the schedule, and the medical team decided that it would be more useful to remove the implants than to continue with full preparations.
According to ANSA, the procedure therefore postponed the planned work on snow that Brignone was due to carry out in Argentina in September. At this stage, it has not been officially confirmed whether that program will be completely cancelled or merely replaced by a different training schedule after rehabilitation is completed. It is clear, however, that preparations for the new season once again have to be adapted to the condition of the left knee rather than to the competition calendar. Brignone and her team already demonstrated an extremely cautious approach during 2025 and at the beginning of 2026, increasing the workload only after medical assessments and functional tests. Such an approach is now even more important because this is a continuation of treatment of the same knee that went through a complex trauma, surgery, months of rehabilitation and then an exceptionally rapid return to the highest sporting level.
From almost eight months without skiing to a World Cup return
The scale of the previous recovery is best seen from the timeline that preceded her Olympic success. After the operation in April 2025, Brignone did not ski for months, and FISI only announced at the end of November that she had again made her first runs on snow in Cervinia, 237 days after the accident. At that time, she spoke about the initial phase of her return, emphasizing that ordinary gym work could not fully simulate the angles, torsions and pressures to which the leg is exposed in alpine skiing. Over the following weeks, she gradually increased the workload, without any firm guarantee that she would manage to compete at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games. Nevertheless, on January 20, 2026, 292 days after the injury, she returned to the World Cup in the giant slalom at Kronplatz and immediately finished sixth.
FIS described her performance at the time as an exceptionally emotional comeback, and the result was especially significant because she entered the competition with very little training and without the usual preparation base. After Kronplatz, Brignone continued with a program that was adjusted from day to day, with an emphasis on speed disciplines and assessing the leg's response. Ahead of the Olympic Games, she was not in a situation in which the medical and sports staff could speak of a complete recovery, but rather of a functional return that still involved pain and limitations. This is precisely why her later results in Cortina carry additional weight: they were achieved less than a year after one of the most serious injuries of her career. The new procedure in August 2026 shows that the Olympic comeback was extraordinary in sporting terms, but did not mean the end of the treatment process.
Two Olympic gold medals ten months after the accident
At the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games, Brignone achieved the greatest success of her career. FIS records that on February 12 in Cortina d'Ampezzo she won gold in the super-G, ahead of France's Romane Miradoli and Austria's Cornelia Hütter. Just three days later, she also won the giant slalom and secured a second Olympic gold medal at the same Games, while Sara Hector of Sweden and Thea Louise Stjernesund of Norway shared silver. The double triumph came approximately ten months after the fracture of the tibia and fibula and the complex knee injury that had effectively cost her the entire preparation cycle. In a sport in which top-level performance depends on precise load control, leg strength and confidence in movement at high speeds, such a comeback was one of the most striking sporting events of those Games.
After the Olympic Games, Brignone did not try at all costs to continue the full season. At the beginning of March, FISI announced that she was ending her competitive year after her appearance in Soldeu, explaining that she had demanded an extraordinary amount from her body during the preceding months. That brought to an end a short but extraordinarily successful season in which she had returned to competition only in January and transformed her main objective - competing at the home Games - into two gold medals. The decision to end the season early created room for recovery during the spring and early summer, but the return to skis at the end of July again showed that the consequences of the injury had not disappeared. Removing the plate and screws should now create better conditions for continued recovery, but the medical team is for now avoiding guarantees about how much the pain will decrease.
The injury interrupted one of the best seasons of her career
The severity of the April 2025 injury was even greater because of the moment in which it happened. Immediately before the fall, Brignone had completed one of the best seasons of her career: in March 2025, FIS confirmed that she had won her second large Crystal Globe for the overall World Cup title, as well as her first small globe in downhill. At the World Championships in Saalbach in February of the same year, she won gold in giant slalom and silver in super-G. In April, therefore, she entered as the reigning world giant slalom champion and overall World Cup winner, and only a few days after the end of the international season she suffered an injury that made her Olympic future uncertain. The fact that she returned from such a situation and won two Olympic titles further changed the context of the current operation: it is no longer about an attempt to make it to one major event, but about long-term management of knee health after an exceptionally intense comeback.
Brignone was born on July 14, 1990, and enters the new season at the age of 36, which further increases the importance of carefully dosing the workload and realistically planning her competition program. FISI had previously emphasized that the condition of her left knee would influence her sporting decisions, while the skier herself repeatedly said that the plan had to depend on how her body responded from day to day. After the new procedure, there is no official confirmation of a date for her return to the World Cup or of the disciplines in which she will first compete. The nearest major international framework consists of the 2026/27 World Cup season and the World Championships in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, which according to FIS and the organizers are scheduled from February 1 to 14, 2027. Whether Brignone builds a full program toward those competitions or chooses a limited number of starts will depend primarily on how the knee responds after the current rehabilitation.
The knee's response will determine the coming weeks
For Brignone, the most important thing now is the immediate medical objective: healing after surgery, reducing pain and gradually restoring functional loading. Panzeri's estimate of four to six weeks refers to a return to physical activity, not a guarantee that she will be ready for competitive skiing within that period. The positive arthroscopy findings and the fact that no additional procedure on the meniscus was required are favorable elements, but the doctor also emphasized that the effect of the operation on pain cannot be guaranteed in advance. For that reason, the next decisions will probably be made on the basis of follow-up examinations and how the knee tolerates increasing loads, just as during the previous recovery. After going from a serious injury to two Olympic gold medals in less than a year, Brignone is now entering a new phase in which the main goal is to re-establish a stable foundation for continuing her career without forcing deadlines.
Sources:
- Federazione Italiana Sport Invernali (FISI) - official announcement about the operation on August 25, 2026, removal of the plate and screws and the start of physiotherapy (link)
- ANSA - statement by surgeon Andrea Panzeri about the estimated return to physical activity in four to six weeks and the arthroscopy findings (link)
- ANSA - report on Brignone's discharge from the clinic on August 26, 2026, and the immediate rehabilitation plan (link)
- Federazione Italiana Sport Invernali (FISI) - official information about the injury and operation on April 3, 2025, in Milan (link)
- Federazione Italiana Sport Invernali (FISI) - information about the return to skis in Cervinia at the end of July 2026 and planned preparations in Ushuaia (link)
- FIS - report on the World Cup comeback and sixth place in the giant slalom at Kronplatz on January 20, 2026 (link)
- FIS - official reports on Federica Brignone's Olympic victories in the super-G and giant slalom at the Milano Cortina 2026 Games (super-G; giant slalom)
- FIS - information about the overall World Cup victory and the downhill globe in the 2024/25 season (link)
- FIS - women's 2026/27 World Cup calendar with the season opening in Sölden in October 2026 (link)
- Crans-Montana 2027 / FIS - official information about the Alpine Ski World Championships from February 1 to 14, 2027 (link)