We didn’t want to see these images again. But they are clearly unavoidable in a sport as risky as skiing. Alexis Pinturault had already paid a heavy price last year with a serious left knee injury in Wengen. A year later, the Frenchman was evacuated by helicopter after a violent fall on the Kitzbühel super-G on Friday. The verdict is final. “He suffers from a large bone contusion of the internal tibial plateau with associated fracture as well as an injury to the internal meniscus.“, indicated the FIS in a press release published in the middle of the afternoon.
Pinturault was the most severely affected, but there were many falls and interruptions in Kitzbühel. Certain conditions were met for this to be the case. “There were two very marked tracks, those who arrived in the trajectory were shaken and it mowed them downexplained Pierre-Emmanuel Dalcin. It’s not even a curve where you enter at 140 km/h with an angle, it’s a classic curve with two small bumps. This does not call into question the quality of the preparation of the track or its dangerousness, it was not more dangerous than other years. There’s never a race in Kitzbühel without a helicopter, guys, it’s part of their job.”
“The French are marabouted”
Nils Allègre escaped in this portion which was fatal to several skiers. “It’s very bumpy here, we have a lot of speed toorecognized the Frenchman at the microphone of Eurosport. You have to be very reactive but also take the time to lean on the front of the ski.“Others of his compatriots did not manage to manage this passage or the track in general. Matthieu Bailet and Nils Alphand made mistakes. Just like Florian Loriot who also had to be evacuated by helicopter. The Frenchman suffers from a concussion.
On a wire, Allègre gave everything: his super-G on video
Video credit: Eurosport
Kitzbühel thus prolonged the massacre within the French speed team. Adrien Fresquet (shin), Cyprien Sarrazin (head) and Blaise Giezendanner (knee) had already had to end their season after being affected respectively at Beaver Creek, Bormio and Wengen. “That’s a lot, we have the impression that the French are maraboutedsaid a disappointed Pierre-Emmanuel Dalcin. It can be a cycle. Sometimes they’re French, sometimes Swiss, sometimes Austrians… but it’s your job. Even if your friends break up, these are difficult times to live through but you have to be prepared for them.”
“It’s been like this for 20 or 30 years…”
This is part of the risks inherent in a sport as dangerous as skiing. But it is not enough to accept them. The question of security comes up again and again and the French massacre once again reignites the debate. “CIt’s the same speech every year, injured people, injured people… it’s been like that for 20 or 30 years, deplores Pierre-Emmanuel Dalcin. We can work on combinations to slow down the runners. There is the airbag vest, the anti-cut suits which should be compulsory, we must not forget that the guys rush at 130 km/h with two razor blades on their feet…”
-The tarpaulins and two rows of nets: Alphand pierced everything in his fall
Video credit: Eurosport
The FIS remains invariably singled out for its laxity on safety issues, even more so since it reversed its decision to make the wearing of airbag vests compulsory by granting exemptions to around forty skiers. Combinations are also at the center of the debate. Aksel Lund Svindal, three-time winner of the Super-G in Kitzbühel, brought it up when talking about Pinturault’s accident on Eurosport. “We just have one outfit, and when we talk about that at the FIS, no one talks about safetysaid the Norwegian retiree. We will need anti-cut suits. I think something needs to be done.”
“The runners are too light”
“I have the feeling that safety is not a priority for the FIS, that the riders have a weight that is too lowapproach Pierre-Emmanuel Dalcin. There is this commission (for security, editor’s note) which has been dissolved, it’s like saying ‘go for it and if it’s not you there will be someone to replace you.’ Everyone talks about it, but it takes time because everything takes time in skiing. We must make a radical decision, not ‘of choice’ like the airbag. We have to impose safety conditions, the airbag is one of them.”
The airbag is an issue, even if it is not necessarily linked to the serious injury suffered by Pinturault this Friday in Kitzbühel. But this case is no less revealing. Ideas for improving safety in speed events exist, but it is their implementation that poses a problem. “The combination, you have to work on itinsists Pierre-Emmanuel Dalcin. THEWe all agree that losing 2-3 seconds on a course would completely change the speed in curves, so there are solutions to be found and that is the direction they must go. But it’s too slow.“This observation is not new. And yet…
