14 of 58 starters didn’t finish, a number of dangerous scenes, two helicopter missions and the impending end of a star’s career – the Streif lived up to its reputation as the most dangerous downhill course in the World Cup. “Only” the Super-G was on the program in Kitzbühel on Friday.
The runner with start number 1 was the first to stumble and land in the safety net. During the Bregenzerwald Lukas Feurstein But even though he was able to drive down into the valley and escape with a painful bruised shoe edge, other athletes in this tricky spot in the upper part of the route had it much worse.
The Frenchman Florian Loriot injured himself so badly that he had to be rescued by helicopter. Also his compatriot Alexis Pinturault The left turn was fatal. At the finish line, his wife and daughter had to watch as the three-time world champion overturned and crashed into the safety net. The helicopter also took off from Pinturault, who may have suffered a knee injury.
Good luck in misfortune
The Super-G in Kitzbühel could have been the 33-year-old Frenchman’s last race. Pinturault is only coming back from a serious knee injury he sustained in Wengen a year ago.
Another wild ride ended more lightly on the second tricky passage above the edge of the Hausberg: Otmar Striedinger lost control of the skis and raced into the barrier without braking. “I ran out of space,” said the veteran from Carinthia, who survived this moment of shock unscathed. With the Styrian Vincent Wieser A third ÖSV runner did not finish. His colleague Felix Hacker had torn his cruciate ligament during training on the Streif.
The many falls and serious injuries are no coincidence,” complained the Norwegian downhill star Aleksander Aamodt Source at the finish line, who is currently on sick leave. “We have to do something, we are over the limit.”