Biathlon star's time of suffering never ends! What's wrong with the world champion?

Italy - She dominated the biathlon world last season, winning the overall World Cup, but now the suffering of Italian star Liza Vittozzi (29) just won't end.

Her entire team and she herself had hoped that she would finally be able to celebrate her comeback at the World Cup in Oberhof from January 9th to 12th, but that will not happen.

As the Italian federation has now announced, she will have to continue her break. Although it is known that Vittozzi is suffering from a back injury, she or those responsible have never revealed any details.

"We have jointly decided that it is better not to compete in Oberhof yet, because the body is an athlete's capital," explained Italy's biathlon sports director, Klaus Höllrigl (44), toSportnews.bz.

Shortly before Christmas, the athlete herself spoke out on Instagram and admitted that the past two months had been tough and that it had been difficult to accept that she had to listen to her body.

It is unclear exactly when Vittozzi was injured. Her last competition was the City Biathlon in Dresdenin mid-September , where she dominated the competition and took victory ahead of Johanna Puff (22) and Karoline Offigstad Knotten (29).

Although Vittozzi has been missing since then, the sporting director emphasizes that there is no cause for concern. "She's still feeling the effects of her back injury and has to keep skipping training sessions. It's nothing serious, but she's simply lacking form as a result," says Höllrigl.

As Vittozzi is the absolute figurehead of the team, her absence hurts enormously. Last season, she not only won the overall World Cup, but also the no crystal globe for the individual World Cup. At the World Championships in Nove Mesto, she won the individual event and also took three silver medals in the pursuit, the mass start and the single mixed relay.

"The overall World Cup is no longer an issue anyway. The plan now is for her to return in Ruhpolding and then build up her form until the World Championships," says Höllrigl, outlining the plan Vittozzi is now pursuing.

However, there is not much time left, because after the World Cup in Ruhpolding (January 15 to 19), the World Championships in Lenzerheide, Switzerland (February 10 to 23) are just three and a half weeks away.

Whether she can really be in top form by then remains to be seen. After Ruhpolding, there is only the World Cup in Antholz (January 23-26), where she can gain competition practice and toughness.