Several skiers were also injured in Kitzbühel. Norwegian ski star Aleksander Aamodt Kilde calls for a rethink.
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- A safety debate is raging in the Alpine Ski World Cup.
- There are casualties at almost every race. Helicopter missions are no longer a rarity.
- In Kitzbühel - one of the most dangerous courses of all - there are once again serious accidents. In an interview with SRF, the injured Aleksander Aamodt Kilde calls for skiing to shift down a gear in terms of aggressiveness.
The sound of helicopters is a constant companion in the ski team this week too. On Wednesday, German speed specialist Jacob Schramm suffered a concussion and torn cruciate ligaments in both knees during final training for the Hahnenkamm downhill.
In Friday's super-G, two Frenchmen were hit hard. Alexis Pinturault had to be flown away by helicopter after a serious fall. The former overall World Cup winner twisted his knee in the accident. The 33-year-old had first torn his cruciate ligament in a fall in Wengen in the previous season and then made his comeback this winter.
A short time later, Pinturault's team-mate Florian Loriot crashed in the same place and hit his head. He was also flown away by a rescue helicopter.
"Not good for the sport"
The injury list in the ski circus is getting longer and longer. In the finish area, Aleksander Aamodt Kilde comments on the problem on SRF: "It's not good for the sport. Something happens every race," says the Norwegian, who triumphed at the Hahnenkamm races in 2022 and 2023. We have to work together to see what can be improved, says Kilde.
The 32-year-old emphasizes that no one is directly to blame, it is about finding solutions with all parties involved. In fact, drivers, officials and experts are puzzling over how racing can be made less dangerous.
Kilde still "a long way" from a racing comeback
Kilde has concrete ideas on how to tackle the issue. "We might have to go back in terms of aggressiveness," he says. The material and the snow are becoming more aggressive, and the aim is always to ski a more direct line, says Kilde. The thing is, you just want to go as fast as possible.
"If you take risks and win, everything is ok, if not, you're just unlucky," he soberly summarizes the problem from the driver's point of view. "It can't go on like this, otherwise there will soon be no athletes left," warns Kilde.
The overall World Cup winner from 2019/20 suffered serious injuries to his shoulder and leg in a crash shortly before the finish in Wengen last winter and is still "a long way" from a comeback, as he says in the interview.
The men's downhill race is scheduled for Saturday on the Streif. It is to be hoped that the racers will not have to experience any hospital visits.
