Sara Thaler fell.

Serious fall in Garmisch: Concerns for Sara Thaler

The first women's downhill training took place in Garmisch-Partenkirchen on Thursday morning. There was another serious fall, this time involving a South Tyrolean.

23 January 2025

From: tu/fop

Difficult conditions with unusually warm temperatures and fog on the Kandahar slope made things anything but easy for the athletes during downhill training on Thursday. Due to the precarious snow conditions, the time was taken a few hundred meters before the usual finish. So it was not surprising that many of the top athletes started the first downhill run with the handbrake on. Nevertheless, there was a serious fall.

This is about Sara Thaler. The Val Gardena native fell heavily during a jump after the first intermediate time and landed in the safety net. Completely dazed, she had to be transported by helicopter to the hospital in Partenkirchen. The 20-year-old will also spend the coming night there. According to SportNewsInformation suggests that serious head injuries should be ruled out. The first all-clear has been given: Thaler can move his arms and legs without restriction. A detailed medical report is still pending.

Two Austrians at the front

After a long break, during which the safety nets that Thaler had crashed into had to be repaired, the race continued. Two Austrians were at the front. Nadine Fest set the fastest time in the snow. Magdalena Egger crossed the finish line just four hundredths slower, at the same time as the Czech Ester Ledecka.

Sofia Goggia finished 1,69nd, 22 seconds behind. Federica Brignone finished 37th (+2,57), just a hair's breadth faster than the Swiss Lara Gut-Behrami (38/+2,60). The strong Austrian Cornelia Hütter finished 49th (+3,39). The best South Tyrolean and also the best Azzurra was Nadia Delago from Val Gardena, who finished 10th, one second behind. Vicky Bernardi from Abtei finished 23rd (+1,70), while Nicol Delago finished 29th (+2,09).