Lukas Feurstein, Dominik Paris, Alexis Pinturault or Florian Loriot: the list – not exhaustive – eliminated from the Kitzbühel super -G is long. Friday, the first of the three races of Hahnenkamm did a big damage. Especially in the tricolor camp, since the last two cities had to be helicoptered to the hospital after their violent exit.
At the end of the afternoon, the French Ski Federation indicated that Alexis Pinturault was injured in the tibia “with associated fracture” and the right knee. He will be repatriated to France, but his season seems to be over.
The Austrian, the Italian and the two French people all fell in the same place, after around twenty seconds of racing. Difficult to evoke chance or bad luck.
“The sun hits and the temperatures are high, so it makes the conditions more changing, contextualizes Loïc Meillard. So you have to succeed in adapting. No one does not want anyone to injure themselves and it is clear that it was an easy passage. You had to find the right line and the right timing, because it tapped violently. Unfortunately, we all know that falls are part of speed disciplines. ”
“I no longer wanted to go”
The Valaisan, 16th on the stiffener due to a big fault on the end of the layout, is hardly virulent towards the organizers. Like his teammate and winner of the day, Marco Odermatt. The Nidwaldian recognizes, however, that this super-G “was a difficult race”.
“It was necessary to ski more tactically,” explains the one who tamed the stricula for the first time in his career. Due to the heat, you really had to take the right line. ”
The numerous falls and other eliminations, however, made the biggest bib numbers cogitate, like Arnaud Boisset (30th) or Adrien Théaux (35th).
Florian Loriot had to be helicopter.
AFP
“It was really not easy, especially at the start,” says the Valaisan, who started just after the fall of Florian Loriot. It was a fight against myself due to the long wait. I heard the helicopters and, suddenly, I knew that the track was dangerous in certain places, I must admit that I no longer wanted to go, but I fought and I still started . “
-However, the 26 -year -old skier wonders about the degree of everyone’s responsibility. “Perhaps this door which posed a lot of problems should not have been staked in this place, but it’s always easy to say it afterwards. I don’t know that who blame. The organizers did what they could, the tracer too. ”
This particularly devastating super-G is nevertheless not an isolated case. The Bormio events, between Christmas and New Year, had also done a lot of breakage (end of the season for Cyprien Sarrazin and Gino Caviezel). Hence a certain growl in the white circus, which the International Ski Federation says he listens.
A subject that the fis “takes very seriously”
“This is an area that we take very seriously,” says its president, Johan Eliasch. Last week, I also chatted with Alexis (Editor’s note: Pinturault) Initiatives that could be made to reduce injuries. Airbags, combinations resistant to cuts have been introduced. We also need helmets capable of withstanding multiple impacts or electronic trigger fixations. We must, in fact, ensure that the compressions do not surprise the runners. ”
Or the exact opposite of what happened this Friday on Streif. “We have to find solutions very quickly because it is not normal, given the technology, that we have as many injuries,” continues the Swedish leader. We hope that the changes mentioned will be carried out before the next season. ”
Johan Eliasch, who assures that his organization is continuously working on the subject of the security of athletes, recognizes, however, that the limit between dangerousness and spectacle remains fine.
Johan Eliasch assures that FIS is working continuously on the safety of runners.
AFP
“It is sometimes a dangerous sport and it will always remain so because, at this speed, skiers are only protected by a combination,” he admits. But there are things you can do to alleviate falls. We accelerate on this theme. It has been going on for 50 years, so it’s not like it was new. ”
In Kitzbühel, everyone is, at least, unanimous on one thing: that the descent scheduled for Saturday (11:30 am) takes place without a hitch.
