Greek-American ski racer AJ Ginnis has shared that his 2024-25 season has ground to a sudden stop following a knee injury. Alexandros Ioannis ‘AJ’ Ginnis has fractured an osteophyte—an abnormal bone growth in his knee joint—during fitness training.
“It’s worse than expected, and I need surgery,” Ginnis revealed to skinews.ch, confirming reports of a knee injury that will require months of rehabilitation. “After that, I’ll have to take a break for three to four months before I can get back on skis.” For Ginnis, who claimed Greece’s first-ever World Cup podium in February 2023 in Chamonix, France, the injury is devastating, “I don’t know what to say. I’m hugely disappointed.”
AJ Ginnis is the son of a Greek ski instructor and an American mother who learned to ski on Mount Parnassos, Greece. While he was born in Athens, Greece, Ginnis moved to Kaprun, Austria, at the age of 12, where his father worked as a ski instructor. At 15, he moved to Vermont and joined the Green Mountain Valley School. At 17, he became a member of the U.S. Ski Team and competed for the USA for several seasons. After a string of injuries and a pause in racing due to Covid-19, he was approached by the Greek ski team. Coincidentally, the U.S. discontinued their financial support to him, and Ginnis started skiing under the Greek flag from 2020-21.
In January 2021, Ginnis became the first Greek skier to win World Cup FIS points, with an 11th place in Slalom at Flachau, Austria. In February 2023 he claimed the first-ever World Cup podium for Greece and backed it up just two weeks later with Greece’s first-ever World Championship Silver Medal at the 2023 World Championships in Courchevel, France.
Sadly, the injury means Ginnis will miss the 2025 World Championships in Saalbach, Austria.
It is not Ginnis’ first knee injury—the Greek skier has had a total of six knee injuries: five on his left knee and one on his right knee. He has torn his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) three times, torn his meniscus twice, and once tore his medial collateral ligament (MCL). He has received several surgeries as well as stem cell injections to his knees. Ginnis had to miss the 2022 Olympic Winter Games due to one of those injuries.
We wish him a speedy recovery and look forward to seeing him in the 2025-26 World Cup season and the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan, Italy.
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