During the second downhill training this Friday in Bormio, Cyprien Sarrazin suffered a heavy fall. Helicoptered to the nearest Italian hospital, the high-alpine skier suffered from a subdural hematoma and had to be operated on quickly in the evening.
As spectacular as they are dangerous, downhill events sometimes turn into disaster. Cyprien Sarrazin paid the price this Friday during the second training session in Bormio. A heavy fall suffered by the high-alpine skier, who started very strongly from the first segments of the Stelvio. Best time in Thursday's training, Sarrazin ended up losing control before the last section of the track, surprised by a movement in the ground and propelled into the air before finishing around ten meters lower under the protective tarpaulins, hitting the surface ice cold several times on the back and head.
We had to wait around twenty minutes to see Cyprien Sarrazin urgently airlifted to the nearest Italian hospital, in Sondalo. It was after a few long hours of waiting without official news that the French Ski Federation communicated about his state of health: “After his fall, Cyprien Sarrazin suffered from a subdural hematoma, he was kept to the hospital in neurological intensive care”, meaning that the skier from Dévoluy is the victim of a severe concussion. Remaining this Friday evening “under surveillance” in Italy and “conscious”, in the words of the federal doctor, Stéphane Bulle, Cyprien Sarrazin then had to be operated on in the evening “in agreement with the Italian surgeons in order to drain the hematoma subdural. »
The Stelvio, “the most technical track”
A critical situation for the double winner of Kitzbühel last year, a year after winning his second World Cup victory (the first after seven years and his success in a parallel) on this same Bormio track. Logically, the rest of Cyprien Sarrazin's season is therefore on hold. The possibility of seeing him on his feet in less than a month in Kitzbühel, just like the world championships in Saalbach, Austria in February, is very unlikely given the seriousness of the injury.
The Stelvio, considered one of the most dangerous slopes on the world circuit, with numerous surface changes throughout is difficult to ski. In fact, Cyprien Sarrazin had mentioned the dangerousness of it earlier this week, in a video conference: “It’s certain that it’s the most technical, the most physically difficult. Plus, this year there isn't much snow, so I heard the movements were quite noticeable. »
Odermatt: « It's a struggle for survival from top to bottom.”
On this subject, his teammate, Nils Allègre was not very kind this Friday at the microphone of Eurosport: “My opinion is clear, it is that they do not know how to prepare a track. They've been preparing trails for 40 years and they only know how to do dangerous things. I love the descent, when there is difficulty, speed, big jumps, in Kitzbühel they know how to do it, here, it's just dangerous. » Winner in the Garmisch super-G the previous year, the latter did not go easy on the organizers: “Tomorrow (Saturday), I will be at the start, I assume the risks, but I do not find not that correct. One year away from organizing the Olympic Games, doing a track like that… They don't deserve to have the Olympic Games here. » A feeling shared by some of the skiers on the circuit. Leader Marco Odermatt also spoke on this subject: “It is undoubtedly the most difficult race of the year. The main problem is this alternation of snow: 80% of the track is icy, and the remaining 20% is made up of aggressive snow. This makes skiing extremely unpredictable. It’s a struggle for survival from top to bottom. »
“These incidents are always distressing. Athletes know the challenges of the Stelvio well. We have improved preparedness and significantly increased security with new barriers. Unfortunately, in outdoor sports, weather conditions can affect racing conditions in specific sections. We hope that Cyprien and Pietro will recover quickly,” said race director Omar Galli, also referring to the fall of Italian Pietro Zazzi during the same training.
