Industry News
It has been a summer of decision-making and rehab for Italian speed skier Elena Curtoni. After a serious ankle injury and months of reflection, she has come to a decision: she will be competing in the 2026-27 season, but it will be her last, announcing she will be retiring after its conclusion.
“I’m back, back to share with you the decision I’ve made,” the 35-year-old wrote in her Instagram announcement. “I can now say with peace in mind, I’ll be at the starting gate for the 2026-27 season.”
She revealed on social media: “Sarà la mia ultima stagione,” (in English: it will be my last season).
Curtoni has come to be one of the most respected and consistent skiers on the World Cup circuit. Her career accolades include 291 World Cup starts with four victories: two in downhill and two in super-G. The Italian also holds a total of 13 World Cup podiums and 65 top-10 finishes. To go along with World Cup success, her résumé also includes a career-best second place in the 2022 Super-G World Cup standings, a fifth-place finish in the downhill at the 2022 Olympics in Beijing, and multiple top-five finishes at the FIS World Championships.
For Curtoni, the offseason has been anything but relaxing. Just weeks after beginning summer training, she revealed she tore two ligaments in her ankle. Complications forced her recovery to take longer than expected, but after recently returning to the snow, her ankle has begun to respond.
Her ankle injury is not the first setback she has dealt with in her career. In 2023, she suffered a crash that resulted in a serious back fracture in St. Moritz, forcing her to miss almost the entire 2023-24 season. She nearly retired that year.
But despite the injuries, the narrative of her career has been one of fighting back. Following her 2023 crash, she stormed back in 2025-26 to finish sixth in the Super-G standings. That season, she also captured a big-time victory in Val di Fassa, Italy, marking her first World Cup win in over three years. That moment proved to be pivotal in her decision to return for one final season.
“That victory certainly carried weight in my decision, even if it wasn’t the only ingredient,” she told Italian journalist Gianmario Bonzi. “I wanted it so badly. I owed myself that redemption. It confirmed that I’m still there.”
As the 2026-27 World Cup season slowly creeps closer, Curt0ni continues to train at Plateau Rosà in Cervinia, Italy. Though she is not among Italy’s protected elite starting group, she is still determined to make starts throughout the season.
She is expected to begin her season at the first speed World Cup in Beaver Creek, Colorado, in December. The season will also take her to the World Championships in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, where she will look to earn her first career podium spot at a global event.
But above all, Curtoni wants to remember her final season as one she enjoyed.
“I can’t wait to enjoy every moment of it,” she wrote.
