Stuhec wins after giving up on Olympic dream due to injury
SELVA DI VAL GARDENA, Italy — It was just about a year ago when Ilka Stuhec gave up on her dream of competing at the Pyeongchang Olympics.
Coming off a career season that included a gold medal in the downhill at the world championships and the season-long World Cup downhill title, Stuhec rushed back on to snow two months after knee surgery.
“I said I really want to ski in 2017, so I went Dec. 31,” Stuhec said. “Because there was still some part of me that believed I could make the Olympics. But I would just go there without confidence, without training, not really trusting the knee. So I let that one go really soon.
“It hurt a lot,” Stuhec added of her New Year’s Eve return to snow.