Lauberhorn descent in Wengen
Ski star Kilde falls badly – injuries are easier than feared
Aleksander Aamodt Kilde fell badly on the Lauberhorn descent in Wengen
© Peter Schneider/KEYSTONE / DPA
Ski racer Aleksander Aamodt Kilde suffered a serious fall on the descent in Wengen. He sends greetings from the hospital and his team doctor gives the all-clear.
Ski racer Aleksander Aamodt Kilde is injured after his serious fall Wengen apparently got off more lightly than initially feared. The Norwegian suffered a cut in his calf and dislocated his shoulder in the accident shortly before the finish on Saturday, as the Norwegian association announced on Sunday morning. The 31-year-old had already been operated on the evening before in the hospital in Bern, where the helpers had flown him by helicopter.
“He has no fractures, but is injured,” said team doctor Marc Jacob Strauss. Further details are expected to be announced later today. Kilde himself posted a photo from his hospital bed that morning and wrote: “This sport can be brutal, but I still love it.” His girlfriend Mikaela Shiffrin can also be seen in the picture; The best female ski racer in the world did not compete in any races at the weekend and rushed to Kilde in Bern.
The accident caused horror, as it affected Kilde, who had dominated downhill skiing in recent years. He in particular was not expected to have problems on the difficult and exhausting Lauberhorn descent in Wengen.
It’s not just Aleksander Aamodt Kilde who falls
The German head coach Christian Schwaiger is struggling with the racing calendar this year, which demands an extremely large number of competitions and trips from the athletes in a short period of time. “The program we are currently running is crazy,” he said in an interview with the German Press Agency. This time in Wengen there were two downhill runs and a Super-G. In a few days we’ll be making the dreaded trek to Kitzbühel.
Former overall World Cup winner Alexis Pinturault from France fell during the Super-G on Friday and suffered a serious knee injury that ended his season. “If we overload the weekends with races, we are inviting really bad things to happen,” warned Schwaiger.
He has the greatest respect for the performance of the two fastest riders on Saturday, winner Marco Odermatt from Switzerland and second-placed Cyprien Sarrazin from France. “But the sport lost today.”