Serious fall on the Stelvio: Sarrazin's life in danger?

Serious fall on the Stelvio: Sarrazin's life in danger?

In a dramatic incident during the final training in Bormio, several ski athletes fell seriously. Last year's winner Cyprien Sarrazin, who positioned himself on the dreaded Stelvio slope on the first descent, suffered a subdural hematoma, a type of cerebral hemorrhage, when he fell. After a violent impact, the 30-year-old had to be transported away by rescue helicopter. According to information from Today.at Sarrazin complained of pain in his leg, but was conscious. He is currently under medical care in Italy.

Several falls and heavy criticism

However, Cyprien Sarrazin was not the only victim of the training. The Italian Pietro Zazzi also had to be transported away by helicopter after a serious fall. Zazzi witnessed how his colleague Josua Mettler, who also fell, crossed the finish line without serious injuries, but felt pain in his knee and had to travel to Switzerland for further examinations. Sarrazin's crash occurred at a critical point, and other athletes, such as Marco Odermatt, expressed concern about the conditions. "As an athlete, you don't want to see that. But you can roughly imagine what's happening," Odermatt was quoted as saying, as well as by SRF.ch.

Nils Allegre, a teammate of Sarrazin, harshly criticized the piste conditions: "This piste is poorly prepared. There is no respect for the drivers," adding that it was dangerous to ski under these conditions. The frozen slope has proven to be extremely challenging, which is also reflected in the training times, which are only of limited significance given the accidents.