Zuzulova to miss ski season with knee injury

Slovakian skier Veronika Velez Zuzulova will miss the season because of a knee injury. (Giovanni Auletta/AP)

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia — Slovakian skier Veronika Velez Zuzulova will miss the season because of a knee injury.

Zuzulova was third in the World Cup slalom standings last season and was an expected medal favourite at the Sochi Olympics.

On her website, the 29-year-old Zuzulova says "I am sad to announce that the Olympic season is over for me."

Zuzulova says she sustained "a fully torn ACL" in training in October and "my knee did not co-operate on my first day back on skis."

Zuzulova will have surgery on Jan. 2 in Lyon, France, and targets a return to World Cup racing next season.

The Slovak got her first World Cup victory last December in Semmering, Austria, and also won the parallel racing event in Munich.

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