Australian skier Daisy Thomas has pulled out of Saturday's freeski slopestyle event after suffering a crash during training and re-injuring her knee.
Thomas came into the Games with a ruptured ACL, after what she described as a "freak accident" at the Beijing World Cup big air event just 48 days ago.
The crash in Livigno hurt that same knee and, despite being taken to hospital for scans, the 18-year-old said she was going to pull out of the event.
"I've made the decision along with my medical and support team to pull from slopestyle tomorrow in order to reset, refocus and channel my energy into big air," Thomas wrote on Instagram, with Elton John's "I'm still standing" as a backing track to her post.
"I am doing all good and am keen to get training for big air."
Thomas crashed on the final jump of a challenging slopestyle course in the closing moments of the practice session.
She was treated at the bottom of the slope in Livigno before being taken to hospital for an MRI.
The Australian Olympic Committee said the MRI was to determine whether Thomas would be able to take to the snow for Saturday's slopestyle qualifying, before Thomas superseded that with her social media post.
Thomas had severely damaged the knee in November at the Beijing big air while on the cusp of making her first ever World Cup podium.
However, the brave teenager told ABC Sport in December that because it was an isolated compete tear of the ACL, she would do no further damage by continuing to ski on it.
"I was really lucky I didn't do any damage to any of the other ligaments around it," she said in December.
"It was just a bit of a freak accident, which is a good thing, but also bad thing because it wasn't really any fault of my own, so it hasn't really affected my confidence hugely.
"I had to speak to a lot of different people, and they're said ultimately the choice is yours.
"It's not going be a huge negative if you're skiing without the ACL, It's not going heal on its own and we're not going waste time trying to figure out if it's going heal on its own. We'll just accept that it's gone and then keep going to the Olympics and then afterwards get surgery.
"And I was happy with that anyway.
"At first I was like, 'Oh, like my world's like ending', but for me at the moment, I don't feel like I'm really having an injury."
Thomas told reporters in Livigno on Thursday she barely noticed it.
"I did my ACL about a month-and-a-half ago, so I'm just skiing without an ACL at the minute," she said.
"I'm strong enough, I'm capable enough, and I've got my tricks back, so I'm able to do it and I don't really notice it at all."
"The goal still remains the same — I'd love to get an Olympic medal."
Thomas is a silver medallist in big air from the 2024 Youth Winter Olympic Games and had a career-best finish of sixth at Secret Garden the day of her injury.
Vonn gets through training
Skiers competing without ACL has been a hot topic of conversation, with American alpine skiing legend Lindsey Vonn confirming she completely ruptured her ACL in a crash at last week's World Cup event in Crans Montana.
Vonn did, however, confirm that she will still compete and participated in training on Friday.
"We have been doing extensive therapy," Vonn, the 41-year-old 2010 Olympic downhill champion said earlier this week.
"I've been consulting with doctors, been in the gym, and today I went skiing.
"Considering how my knee feels, I feel stable, I feel strong. My knee is not swollen, and with the help of a knee brace, I am confident that I can compete on Sunday.
"This is not, obviously, what I had hoped for. I've been working really hard to come into these Games in a much different position.
"I know what my chances were before the crash, and I know my chances aren't the same as it stands today, but I know there's still a chance and as long as there's a chance, I will try."
Vonn has won two World Cup downhill races this season in St Mortiz and Zauchensee, becoming the oldest woman to ever do so.
