Australian freeski athlete Daisy Thomas has pulled out of Saturday’s slopestyle competition after crashing during training and aggravating a pre‑existing knee injury. The 18‑year‑old entered the Games already carrying a ruptured ACL from what she described as a “freak accident” at the Beijing World Cup big air event just 48 days earlier.
The fall in Livigno affected the same knee, and although she was taken to hospital for scans, Thomas later confirmed she would not compete.
Thomas announces decision on Instagram
“I’ve made the decision along with my medical and support team to pull from slopestyle tomorrow in order to reset, refocus and channel my energy into big air,” she wrote on Instagram, accompanied by Elton John’s “I’m Still Standing.”
“I am doing all good and am keen to get training for big air.”
Crash occurred on final jump of difficult course
Thomas crashed on the final jump of a challenging slopestyle course during the closing moments of practice. She received treatment at the bottom of the slope before being transported for an MRI.
The Australian Olympic Committee said the scan was intended to determine whether she could compete in Saturday’s qualifying round but Thomas made the decision herself before any official update.
A knee injury she has been managing for weeks
Thomas had severely damaged the knee in November during the Beijing big air event, just as she was nearing her first World Cup podium. Despite the rupture, she told ABC Sport in December that she was cleared to continue skiing because the tear was isolated.
“I was really lucky I didn’t do any damage to any of the other ligaments around it,” she said at the time.
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