Trouble in the Ski World Cup: Now comes the crisis summit

Yesterday, the Super-G in Kitzbühel dragged on for a long time. When number 58, the Norwegian Rasmus Windingstad, swung down the Streif at the finish, it was 14.04:54 p.m. - more than two and a half hours after the race had started. The sun had long since gone, the VIPs were drinking champagne. Aleksander Aamodt Kilde was still waiting for his team-mate Windingstad, and yours truly was waiting for a statement from Florian Schieder, who finished 26th with number XNUMX.

The fact that the first 30 were separated by just 1,95 seconds underlines the high level of the world's best speed racers. Nevertheless, the price they pay for this is far too high. Yesterday, the helicopter was in the air several times, and the French team in particular was further decimated after the failure of team leader Cyprien Sarrazin. Alexis Pinturault was taken to hospital by helicopter - diagnosis: bone bruise including fracture of the tibial plateau, as well as an injury to the medial meniscus. Florian Loriot was also taken to hospital - diagnosis: concussion.

Alexis Pinturault suffered a serious fall. © APA/afp / JOE KLAMAR

Are Pinturault and Loriot the 32nd and 33rd to have suffered serious injuries this year, regardless of gender? Counting has long since stopped, but it is obvious that the limit of what is acceptable has long been exceeded. FIS race director Markus Waldner knows this ("it is 5 past 12"), and the riders themselves know it too. Christof Innerhofer said yesterday: "The breaks after a fall are terrible. Half the riders are already exhausted before the start and don't know how or what to do. I am very experienced, but I also reach my limits," the 40-year-old said honestly after his 331st World Cup race.

Increasingly more often in the hospital At 14, the dropout rate for a Super-G yesterday was within the normal range. It is now the discipline in which there are the most dropouts. What is new is that crashes are increasingly ending up in hospital. When this discipline was "invented" in 1982 - yesterday was the 250th World Cup Super-G in history - this was certainly not what the FIS officials had in mind. On the first speed weekend in Beaver Creek alone, 6 athletes were "torn apart" - in weather or snow conditions that were by no means difficult. Everything went smoothly in Val Gardena, but in Bormio Cyprien Sarrazin had a fatal training fall. Whether he will ever be able to return to the World Cup after his head injury is more uncertain than ever. After Alexis Pinturault's injury yesterday in front of his wife and young daughter, there are likely to be big question marks here too.

The fact that downhill and super-G skis weigh around 12 kilograms including the sidecut are an extreme burden - especially at speeds of up to 155 km/h, as in Wengen - has long been discussed. The same applies to the airbag and the carbon protectors. A new type of binding system is also being tested. The course setting needs to be reconsidered. Yesterday's super-G by German coach Andreas Evers could have been more twisty up until the larch shot. And anyone who remembers the second run of the giant slalom in Adelboden, which went extremely directly over the ultra-steep finish slope and where speeds of close to 2 km/h were measured, must admit: Changes are also necessary in the course setting! The curve radii must be more twisty and rounded!

crisis summit at the World Cup A visibly shaken FIS race director Markus Waldner said yesterday: "Something has to change, things cannot go on like this." He announced that two rounds of talks will take place during the World Championships in Saalbach, on February 2th and 6th, with all those involved, i.e. the ski industry, coaches, athletes, doctors and FIS race directors. Hopefully everyone will recognize the seriousness of the situation. Otherwise, speed racing will bleed out.

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Trouble in the Ski World Cup: Now comes the crisis summit

The Super-G in Kitzbühel caused a lot of discussion – once again, it must be said. The reason for this is the many bad falls. The diary of Andreas Vieider from the Gamsstadt.

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