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Flora Tabanelli, 18, Wins Big Air Bronze, Delivering Italy’s First Olympic Freestyle Medal

She will undergo knee surgery in early March following conservative treatment that enabled her to compete with a brace.

Overview

  • She sealed the podium with a high‑risk 1600 in her third run at Livigno after needing to make up fractions of a point.
  • She competed with a right‑knee ACL lesion managed conservatively and rehabilitated at J‑Medical in Turin before returning with a brace.
  • Eileen Gu praised her emergence as a superstar and Megan Oldham called her a warrior after sharing the Big Air podium.
  • She confirmed Livigno was her only event of 2026 and said the knee functioned well during the Games before the planned operation.
  • She received a congratulatory phone call from Alberto Tomba and steady encouragement from Federica Brignone during her recovery.