Nina O’Brien Injures Leg

Stifel U.S. Alpine Ski Team athlete Nina O’Brien fractured her left leg in training at a camp in New Zealand. 

“I’m really sad to share that I left New Zealand after re-fracturing my leg,” said O’Brien. “Ski racing, I love you but wow you can be brutal. I was having the best camp, and just want to get back to those moments. So I guess we’ll have to try this thing again. At least this isn’t my first rodeo.”

O’Brien has been a key member on the women’s World Cup tech team, consistently scoring World Cup points. She is coming off a successful 2022-23 season where she became a world champion in the team event at the Courchevel-Meribel 2023 World Championships. She also had strong results in giant slalom last season, highlighted by a 10th place in the Kronplatz, Italy World Cup race. 

This is the second time she will go through the recovery process for a broken leg. O’Brien first broke her left leg while competing at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing when she suffered an open fracture to her tibia. She was the top U.S. contender in the giant slalom race, sitting in sixth place when she fell in the last few gates of the second run. 

O’Brien is having surgery Tuesday and will be out of competition for the upcoming 2023-24 season.