Australian aerial skier battling knee injury ahead of Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics
– Livigno: Australian aerial ski star Laura Peel has been given every chance to overcome the knee injury she suffered in pre-Olympic camp and take her place at Milan Cortina 2026, mission chief Alisa Camplin said.
Peel suffered a knee injury while training in Airolo, Switzerland, on Monday and underwent an MRI scan, but no further details about the extent of the damage were released by the Australian team.
The 36-year-old is aiming to qualify for his fourth Olympic Games and finally get a medal after finishing fifth at Beijing 2022. Since he won’t be racing until February 17 (almost two weeks away), he has time to himself.
“He’s trying to figure out with his coaches, physiotherapists and sports psychologists what the plan is for each day? He’s got a lot of days until his competition,” Camplin told reporters in Livigno on Wednesday.
“So I’ve guided them into their collective bubble to figure out what the right journey is from now until the Games. I check in every day. Well-being is very important to me.”
“I know he has the right people around him and I’m just trying to let him get the right mindset throughout these Games to find what the right path is for him.”
Laura Peel competed at the World Cup event in Lake Placid, New York, last month.Credit: Getty Images
Freestyle skier and newly appointed Australian flag bearer Matt Graham is hopeful Peel can tick all the necessary boxes and take his place on the starting line – but as Camplin points out, he is also an example of how disruption to preparations is not necessarily an insurmountable obstacle.
Graham broke her collarbone a month after the last Winter Olympics, while Daisy Thomas, another member of Australia’s 53-athlete team, tore her anterior cruciate ligament but still plans to participate.
