The helicopter had to be deployed to Garmisch (stock image). © AFP / MARCO BERTORELLO

Terrible fall: A helicopter has to be called in Garmisch.

The men's downhill training in Garmisch-Partenkirchen was overshadowed by several frightening moments. Giovanni Franzoni was among those affected.

February 27, 2026

From: det

Before the World Cup races take place on Saturday and Sunday, the second downhill training run was held in Garmisch on Friday. However, it was overshadowed by some scary moments. Giovanni Franzoni experienced one such scare: the rising Italian star lost a ski after just a few seconds and crashed, but fortunately, he escaped unharmed.

Finnish skier Elian Lehto fared worse. Wearing bib number 25, he lost control on a right-hand turn in the "Hell" section of the course and crashed into the safety netting at full speed. Lehto received immediate treatment but had to be airlifted to the hospital. The extent of his injuries is currently unknown.

Elian Lehto has been injured. © AFP / FABRICE COFFRINI

Nils Alphand was also caught up in the crash. The Frenchman fell in the same section and, according to the French Ski Federation, suffered injuries to his shoulder and ribs. Both times, training had to be interrupted for an extended period. As a result, Christof Innerhofer, who had started behind Lehto, had to stop during his training run and could only continue afterward. Consequently, the skier from Gais appears in the final standings with a 25-minute deficit.

Casse is the fastest

Mattia Casse set the fastest time in training, 0,04 seconds ahead of Switzerland's Alexis Monney. Frenchman Nils Allegre finished third, 0,15 seconds behind. Florian Schieder finished the final training run in 16th place (+1,11 seconds), while Dominik Paris came in 23rd (+1,61 seconds). The downhill race takes place on Saturday at 11:45 a.m., followed by the Super-G at the same time on Sunday.