Ester Ledecká will not participate in the alpine skiing world championships. The cause was a previous injury, a broken collarbone.

This year, Ledecká should confirm last year’s incredible results, when she managed to finish 3rd overall at the convention. One hopes he makes it even better.

He made several fundamental changes to the team and material. Private Miloš Machytka is gone, replaced by Austrian superman Guntram Mathis. He switched from Atom skis to the Czech-Austrian brand Kästle. As part of this material change, he also got a new partner, two-time world downhill champion Ilka Štuhecová of Slovenia.

This could be an interesting season with two important things. WC alpine skiing in Courchevel-Meribel (6-19/2) and final finish in March in Andorra. So Ledecká had to give up the first peak, but it is not certain how things will be in this season.

All of Ledecka’s plans took a major blow due to his broken collarbone and injury treatment. In November last year, after a re-operation in Innsbruck, Ledecka’s team considered various options, how and when to proceed.

Therefore, Ledecká has not appeared in any races. He lost several races in speed disciplines – 2x downhill and SG at Lake Louise Canada at the turn of November and December and 2x downhill and SG at Swiss St. Moritz in the middle of the year. December. By the way, he didn’t do well there last year. The best he finished was 12th, the worst was 22nd. But in 2019 he won there.

On the Czech amphibian front, there are now more than two basic variants of further action.

First, he will try to return to skiing and snowboarding as quickly as possible and save part of the season, for example, for snowboarding championships. Second, he will write off the 2022/23 season completely, heal himself well, and prepare for next season.

It’s not just Ledecka’s health that’s at stake. His feelings will be important, how he feels when skiing without thorough prior preparation. Tricky numbers will also play a key role – it’s about losing as few as possible in the seeding order in the race. And finally, a sponsorship contract could disrupt everything, as sponsors want to see Ledecká on the slopes.

In general, starting in the middle of the season is unfavorable, Ledecká will lose positions in the rankings and starting order, among other things.

Therefore, there is also the option to cancel the entire 2022/23 racing season. To recover as soon as possible, start practicing skiing calmly, work on technique, even eliminate some shortcomings that you don’t have time for, and prepare perfectly for the 2023/24 season.

Our best downhiller, Ondřej Bank, suffered similar martyrdom twice in his career. The first time was when he broke his leg in Kitzbühel in January 2008. He was doing very well before the race, but suddenly the whole season was gone. But rehabilitation took longer than expected. He also injured his foot the following season, and Ondra had to continually delay the start of the season.

That’s when his team took a conservative approach. Ondra was able to train on straighter sections, ride more freely for a few months and never once tried to jump into the season.

This seemed to have a positive impact at the time. Ondra worked on his technique and in the 2009/10 season and the following season, everything suddenly went well for him. He finished 12th in the steeplechase, 15th in the slalom, and at the Olympics in Whistler, he was on the edge of the top ten several times and was 7th in the super combined.

He experienced similar improvements after a longer break following a mysterious illness he brought back from Thailand in the spring of 2011. He did return then and at the 2014 Sochi Olympics. And that was great for Ondra, he finished in 5th place in an obstacle course race, for example.

If Ester Ledecká misses this season completely, the so-called “injury status” will help her be benched for next season. In this way, the International Ski Federation (FIS) protects injured great skiers. If they haven’t competed for more than 8 months, they can prepare in peace and then start the next season with only a slight drop in the starting lineup.