Great Britain’s Kirsty Muir was “completely shocked” to learn she had suffered a serious knee injury after making the podium in a World Cup event.
The freestyle skier, 19, will miss the rest of the 2023-24 season and expects to be out for eight to nine months.
Scot Muir finished third at the Freeski Big Air World Cup event in Copper Mountain this month despite rupturing her ACL and sustaining meniscus damage.
“My first run I felt my knee a little sore,” she told BBC Scotland.
“But now I think it was the back of the hamstring I’ve torn a little bit there. The second run I ended up crashing and that’s when we think I did my ACL and a little bit of my meniscus.
“Once I got up it felt pretty fine, I was doing one-legged jumps on it and everything.
“I managed to do my third run and ended up on the podium in third. So I didn’t think the knee was too bad – I was actually happy because I thought it could have been worse.
“But when I got the scan results a couple of days later we found out it was worse. I was completely shocked. I honestly didn’t know what to say or think. My physio and coach were shocked as well, none of us expected it.”
Having secured two World Cup podiums, the injury cuts short what Muir says is her best season so far.
She hopes to undergo surgery in the next week and takes solace from the fact the lengthy lay-off should not impact her qualification bid for the 2026 Winter Olympics.
“I was in such a good place, both physically and mentally,” she added. “It was such a good start to the season, the best I’ve had, so it’s really quite sad to have this crush that.
“But I take the positives and keep that in mind for next season. My physio said it’s an okay time to do it if I had to do it.
“The first comp for the [Olympic] qualification is September next year and the qualification is a two-year process, so I don’t think this will hinder me too much if I can get the surgery and get back to fitness. We’ve got a good goal to get back for September.”
