Finnish Alpine skier Sanni Leinonen's season in the FIS World Cup is over, and she will not be travelling to the World Championships in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in February, either.
Leinonen injured her knee in a European Cup slalom event in Tarvisio in Italy on Monday and the damage will require surgery.
A scan on Tuesday indicated that Leinonen had ruptured her anterior cruciate ligament and had also suffered a tear in one of the lateral ligaments.
"The knee will be operated on at the beginning of next week. If everything goes to plan with the ACL reconstruction, her rehabilitation process should take around six months", estimated Eero Hyvärinen, physician to the Finnish Alpine Ski Team.
This means Leinonen has a lengthy spell of physiotherapy ahead of her and would be back in action only next season.
Leinonen, 21, who has accompanied Finland's No.1 Tanja Poutiainen on the FIS World Cup circuit for some years, has finished in the points twice this season, most recently in a slalom in Zagreb two weeks ago.
