“No breaks, but hurt”
Ski star who fell seriously reports to hospital
January 14, 2024, 9:46 a.m
Ski star Aleksander Aamodt Kilde crashes into the Wengen fence at high speed and there is great concern for the Norwegian. Now the 31-year-old is sending photos from the hospital – and the team doctor gives an initial diagnosis that offers reasons for relief.
Ski racer Aleksander Aamodt Kilde apparently escaped less seriously than initially feared after his serious fall in Wengen. 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 this 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.
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 insane,” he said. 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 tore a cruciate ligament, which 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.”