PARIS (AP) — Olympic big air medalist Tess Ledeux has withdrawn from the Milan Cortina Winter Games next month, saying she has not sufficiently recovered from a concussion.
The French freestyle skier, who was second to Eileen Gu at the Beijing Olympics four years ago, has not competed since a crash last March during a World Cup.
Ledeux, a former world champion, said she will miss the entire season to focus on her recovery.
“With the help of the medical staff, I have made the decision to draw a line under my season,” Ledeux said in a social media post on Thursday. “Probably the hardest decision of my life. Because yes… hope was what allowed me to hold on, to keep moving forward, and to get up every morning... This choice is difficult, almost impossible to accept. It feels unfair."
The 24-year-old Ledeux initially thought she would recover after a few weeks of rest but explained in October that symptoms including fatigue, headaches and dizziness persisted. After consulting multiple specialists, she said she came to realize that “the line between physical and mental injury is very thin.”
Ledeux said she tried every possible option to be able to compete at what would have been her third Olympics, but insisted that her health should come first.
“One thing is certain: I will get through this,” Ledeux added, setting her sights on the 2030 Olympics in France.
AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
FILE - Silver medalist Tess Ledeux of France celebrates during a medal ceremony for the women's freestyle skiing big air at the 2022 Winter Olympics, on Feb. 8, 2022, in Beijing. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko, File)
MARTIGNY, Switzerland (AP) — Switzerland will hold a memorial service Friday, part of a national day of mourning to honor the 40 people who were killed in an Alpine bar fire earlier this month during a New Year's celebration.
An additional 116 people were injured, many of them seriously, when the fire broke out less than two hours after midnight at the Le Constellation bar on Jan. 1.
Investigators have said they believe sparkling candles atop Champagne bottles ignited the fire in the resort town of Crans-Montana when they came too close to the ceiling. Authorities are looking into whether soundproofing material on the ceiling conformed with regulations and whether the candles were permitted for use in the bar. Fire safety inspections hadn’t been carried out since 2019.
The severity of burns made it difficult to identify some victims, requiring families to supply authorities with DNA samples. Police have said many of the victims were in their teens to mid-20s.
Swiss authorities have opened a criminal investigation into the bar managers. The two are suspected of involuntary homicide, involuntary bodily harm and involuntarily causing a fire, according to the Valais region’s chief prosecutor.
As part of the national day of mourning, church bells across Switzerland will ring for five minutes, beginning at 2 p.m. local time Friday, and a minute of silence will be held.
The Rome prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation into the Crans-Montana fire, alleging manslaughter and arson, Italian media reported Thursday. An autopsy has been ordered for five of the six Italian victims and has been delegated to the prosecutors' offices in Milan, Bologna, and Genoa, where the bodies of the victims have been returned.
“What happened is not a disaster: It’s the result of too many people who didn’t do their job or who thought they were making easy money,” Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni said at a press conference on Friday. “Those responsible must be identified and prosecuted.”
Meloni said the State Attorney General’s Office has contacted the Swiss Attorney General to follow the investigation and confirmed that the Rome Prosecutor’s Office has started a separate probe.
“The families have my word that they will not be left alone while they seek justice,” she added.
The Paris prosecutor’s office Monday announced that it was opening a probe to assist the Swiss investigation and make it easier for families of French victims to communicate with Swiss investigators. Nine French citizens were killed, the youngest of them aged 14, and 23 others were injured.
Swiss President Guy Parmelin writes in a condolence book prior to the official commemorative ceremony for the victims of the deadly fire at the "Le Constellation" bar in Crans-Montana at the CERM in Martigny, Switzerland, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (Michael Buholzer/Keystone/Pool via AP)
A victim with burned hands and relatives attend the official commemorative ceremony for the victims of the deadly fire at the "Le Constellation" bar in Crans-Montana, in Martigny, Switzerland, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (Laurent Gillieron/Keystone/Pool via AP)
The owners of the "Le Constellation" bar in Crans-Montana, where the deadly fire happened on New Year's Day, Jacques und Jessica Moretti from France, center, arrive with their lawyers Patrick Michod, Yael Hayat and Nicola Meier, to be auditioned by the Valais public prosecutor's office in Sion, Switzerland, Friday, January 9, 2026. (Jean-Christophe Bott/Keystone via AP)
Plaques bearing flags representing Switzerland, Romania, Italy, Portugal, Belgium, France, and Turkey are placed along with flowers and candles to honor the victims of the fire at the "Le Constellation" bar and lounge, in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (Cyril Zingaro/Keystone via AP)
Mourners gather around flowers and candles to commemorate the victims of the "Le Constellation" bar and lounge's fire, in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (Jean-Christophe Bott/Keystone via AP)
FILE - A child watches as an adult places a candle outside the sealed off Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026, where a devastating fire left dead and injured during the New Year's celebrations. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner, File)
