Anna Gasser Suffers Injury From "Freak" Surfing Accident

Originally posted on SNOWBOARDER | By Josh Sullivan | Last updated Jul 9, 2025 10:56 AM ET

In March 2025, Anna Gasser told Olympics.com that she planned to retire from contests after the end of the 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Italy. With the games being so close to her home country of Austria, it seemed like a fitting ending.

Gasser will have another obstacle to overcome before she gets there. The two-time Olympic gold medalist dislocated her shoulder during a recent surfing trip. Rather than leave anything to chance, Gasser elected to “fix it right away” in an effort to be 100% by the time the next snowboard season comes around.

“Sad that my summer plans changed and that I’m forced to watch from the sidelines for now. But I’ll try to make the best out of it and come back strong,” she wrote in an Instagram post. Big thanks already to Red Bull Austria and Team Gelenkpunkt and Dr. Braun for figuring this out together.”

Check out Gasser's full Instagram post below.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Anna Gasser (@annagassersnow)

Riders like Mia Brookes, Gigi Rüf, Rene Rinnekangas, and Kimmy Fasani wished Gasser a quick recovery in the comments section of her post.

“Heal up! I’m coming to Austria for a gentle hug,” Fasani wrote.

Gasser is one of the best snowboarders in contest history. She made her debut at the 2014 Games in Sochi, Russia, where she finished in tenth place after falling on two finals runs. Then she came back in 2018 in PeyongChang to win big air gold.

She won gold yet again at the 2022 Beijing Games, and will look to three-peat in Italy. She threw a switch triple cork 1260 at the X Games Aspen back in January that landed her atop the podium. That was her first medal in any X Games since the 2020 contest in Norway.

"I just want to show a little bit more of my style and creativity in my tricks and be proud of the snowboarder I am," she told Olympics.com back in March. “Before I was super focussed on results and super focussed on progressing and doing the hardest tricks. Now, I try to get a little more style in my riding and be proud of what I'm doing on my snowboard."

The Austrian rider has four X Games gold medals, two World Championships, and a U.S. Open victory on her resume in addition to her two Olympic golds.

The 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Milano-Cortina start on February 6, 2026. Snowboard Big Air qualifiers will technically start a day before the opening ceremony on February 5, 2026. Snowboard halfpipe qualifiers start on February 11, 2025, on what is technically day 5 of the games.

This article first appeared on SNOWBOARDER and was syndicated with permission.

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