BORMIO, Province of Sondrio — A men’s World Cup super-G got off to an inauspicious start on Sunday as the very first skier crashed dramatically on the slope set to be used for the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Gino Caviezel became the third skier airlifted to hospital off the Stelvio slope this weekend after the Swiss skier crashed around 45 seconds into his run.
The Swiss ski federation said Caviezel was flown straight back to Switzerland by Swiss Air Rescue and that “initial examinations show a shoulder dislocation, which has been put back in place, as well as a complex knee injury, which is still being investigated further.”
The 32-year-old Caviezel hit a gate and tumbled down the slope but was conscious as he came to a halt, appearing to point several times to his knee as first aiders rushed to help him.
Sunday’s race, which was won by Fredrik Moeller, was interrupted for just under 20 minutes while Caviezel received treatment before being airlifted to hospital.
French standout Cyprien Sarrazin and Italian Pietro Zazzi were taken off the slope by helicopter after crashing in separate incidents in downhill training on Friday.
Sarrazin underwent surgery to drain a bleed near the brain while Zazzi had an operation on his leg.
The incidents called into question the safety of the fearsome Stelvio slope — the course for next winter’s Milan-Cortina Olympics.
“My opinion here is clear, it’s that they don’t know how to prepare a course,” Sarrazin’s teammate Nils Allègre said. “It’s been 40 years that they have been preparing courses, but they don’t know how to do anything, apart from dangerous things.
“Maybe it’s not something everyone agrees with but it’s my opinion and it’s deep-seated. It’s not right, I don’t know what they’re trying to prove, but a year ahead of organizing the Olympics, having a course like this — they don’t deserve to have the Olympic Games here.”
Race director Omar Galli told The Associated Press that the organizers have “significantly upgraded safety features” and will further enhance those for the Olympics.
He rejected claims the slope hadn’t been well prepared.
“I would invite him (Allègre) to come here just in the past 10 days, fortnight and see what happens from 5 a.m. until 8 p.m., when there’s wind, when there’s rain and see how we manage to resolve things,” Galli said.
“Everyone has their own opinion and it should be respected because at the end it’s the athletes who race. But probably if we asked 70 athletes we would probably end up with 70 different courses, maybe not 70 but at least 66. What’s the middle point is up to us but it could be right for one and wrong for another.”
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AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports