Alpine skiing - World downhill champion Stuhec may miss season with knee injury

LJUBLJANA (Reuters) - World downhill ski champion Ilka Stuhec may miss the whole Alpine skiing season after she injured her knee during training on Sunday, her spokesman said.

"During the morning training in Pitztal (Austria) today Ilka Stuhec fell and hurt her left knee... Medical exam showed that the Slovenian skiing champion tore anterior cruciate ligaments," Tilen Lamut said in a statement.

"For now it looks like Ilka Stuhec will have to miss a large part or maybe the whole World Cup season, including the Winter Olympic Games in South Korea," he added.

Stuhec, 26, became downhill champion in February and was second in the overall 2016/2017 Alpine skiing World Cup standings, behind American Mikaela Shiffrin.

"Sad and angry at the moment but motivated to get back," Stuhec wrote on her Twitter account.

The World Cup opens in Soelden, Austria, next weekend, while the 2018 Winter Olympics run from Feb. 9 to 25 in Pyeongchang.

(Reporting By Marja Novak; Editing by Clare Fallon)