BOLZANO, Italy (AP) — Overall World Cup champion Federica Brignone will make her return to ski racing on Tuesday, nine months after a severe injury but she admits it’s still too early to say whether she will be able to compete in next month’s Winter Olympics.
Brignone broke multiple bones in her left leg in April, following what was the best season in her career.
After two surgeries and months of rehab, she returned to the snow in November. And the Italian confirmed on Monday that she would be at the start gate for the World Cup giant slalom in Kronplatz the following day — 292 days after her injury.
“For me it’s really fantastic to be here and to be competing tomorrow,” a clearly emotional Brignone said. “What better place than in Italy, at home, it’s a slope that I really like, it’s a race that I’ve always liked, obviously it certainly won’t be like other years.
“I’m not here to test myself, but to test my mind, my body, my leg above all. And I’m definitely not here for a great result, but for a great result for myself. It’s something special to already be here … being here is already a great success, so whatever happens will still be fantastic.”
Brignone, who hasn’t “had a day without pain” since the injury, said she had only spent 13 days serious training.
The 35-year-old has won a silver and two bronzes at the Olympics and these would be her fifth Games — if she returns in time.
“Probably I always believed, otherwise I wouldn’t be here,” Brignone said. “But it’s still difficult. I think no athlete can say they will be at the Olympics until they put their poles out the start gate, in our sport especially, anything can happen … I still don’t know.
“When I put my giant slalom skis on, it was a disaster at the beginning. Then I tried again in December and it was only then that I began to see a bit of light.”
At 34 last season, Brignone became the oldest women’s winner in World Cup history — a record recently broken by 41-year-old Lindsey Vonn.
As well as the overall title, Brignone also won the downhill and giant slalom crystal globes last season, and was second in the super-G rankings.
She hopes to compete in all three at the Milan Cortina Games, where she will be one of Italy’s four flag bearers.
Brignone admitted in October that she didn't think she would “be able to get back to exactly how I was before.”
Women’s Alpine skiing at the Feb. 6-22 Olympics will be held in Cortina d’Ampezzo.
AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
FILE - Italy's Federica Brignone skis during a women's giant slalom run at the World Cup Finals, Tuesday, March 25, 2025, in Sun Valley, Idaho. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, file)
FILE - Overall World Cup skiing champion Italy's Federica Brignone is carried away on a toboga after she broke multiple bones in her left leg during a giant slalom crash at the Italian championships in the Lusia ski area, in Val di Fassa, Italy, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Elvis Piazzi, file)
FILE - Italy's Federica Brignone reacts on the podium after winning the women's World Cup overall at the World Cup Finals, Thursday, March 27, 2025, in Sun Valley, Idaho. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, file)
KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — The death toll from a massive fire at a shopping plaza in Karachi rose to 23 on Monday as rescuers recovered more bodies from the badly damaged building, police said. Dozens remain missing.
Firefighters extinguished the blaze at the multistory plaza late Sunday, nearly 24 hours after it erupted, allowing rescue teams to enter the building. Authorities fear the death toll will rise as they look for 46 more people, according to city police chief Asad Raza.
Raza told The Associated Press on Monday that only six bodies have been identified so far. The rest will need DNA testing as the “bodies were beyond recognition,” police surgeon, Dr. Summaiya Syed, said. She said that doctors were collecting DNA samples from the relatives of the missing individuals.
Earlier, Sindh provincial Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah told a news conference in Karachi that rescue teams were searching for survivors and the dead. He said those killed in the fire included a firefighter and that the government would provide 10 million rupees ($36,000) in compensation to the family of each person killed.
As night fell, rescuers continued to struggle to reach parts of the severely damaged building where some people were believed to be trapped after losing contact with their families the previous day. City Mayor Murtaza Wahab said the rescue operation would continue until all missing persons had been accounted for.
The fire spread quickly through shops storing cosmetics, garments and plastic goods, said Dr. Abid Jalal Sheikh, Karachi's chief rescue officer.
Some of the relatives of the missing waited outside the burned-out plaza Monday, hoping for news.
Qaiser Ali said his wife, daughter-in-law and sister went shopping for an upcoming wedding event on Saturday and were inside the building when the fire broke out. He said he had spoken to all three by mobile phone on Sunday, but then they went silent.
“I don’t know what has happened to them or whether they are alive,” Ali told the AP. “We are praying that all those missing come out safely,” he said, as he continued trying to contact his missing family members.
Mohammad Abrar said he managed to escape the fire, but his brother, Saifur Rehman, who owns a shop in the plaza, was left behind. He said he feared for his brother's safety.
The cause of the fire was not immediately known. Police said an investigation was underway.
Karachi, the capital of Sindh province, has a history of deadly fires, often blamed on poor safety standards and illegal construction. In November 2023, a fire at a shopping mall in the city killed 10 people and injured 22 others.
A massive fire at a garment factory in Karachi in 2012 killed 260 people.
Rescue workers and firefighters work with heavy machinery to search through the rubble of a burnt building of a multistory shopping plaza following a massive fire in Karachi, Pakistan, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammad Farooq)
Firefighters search through the rubble of a burnt building of a multistory shopping plaza following a massive fire in Karachi, Pakistan, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Ali Raza)
Family members of missing persons comfort each other as they wait near the site of a burnt building of a multistory shopping plaza following a massive fire in Karachi, Pakistan, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Ali Raza)
Family members of missing persons wait near the site of a burnt building of a multistory shopping plaza following a massive fire in Karachi, Pakistan, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Ali Raza)
Rescue workers and firefighters work with heavy machinery to search through the rubble of a burnt building of a multistory shopping plaza following a massive fire in Karachi, Pakistan, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Ali Raza)
Firefighters examine a collapsed portion of a multi-story shopping mall following a massive fire that broke out overnight, in Karachi, Pakistan, Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammad Farooq)
Firefighters try to control a massive fire that was broke out in a multi-story shopping mall in overnight, in Karachi, Pakistan, Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammad Farooq)
