Last year, the World Cup officials received much criticism concerning the safety of the athletes, as many of them suffered severe injuries during the season. Some of them had not come back yet. FIS was blamed for making the World Cup tour too demanding, packed with races, and too much traveling. This criticism is still relevant, as the technical specialists travel to America for one giant slalom Monday race and must be ready in France in less than a week.
However, the epidemic of injuries that had already started in November, before the speed season kicked off properly, cannot be blamed on fatigue so early in the season.
Let us stop speculating and accept that alpine skiing is and will always be a dangerous sport. Now, let us tour the hospitals, rehabilitation centers, and bedrooms where injured ski stars work hard on their recovery.
Mikaela Shiffrin: Happy to Be Alive
The US skiing queen is out indefinitely, as her injury differs from what sports doctors are used to seeing. It resembles the outcome of a battle with a tiger or a sword fight rather than a high-speed crash.
Shiffrin underwent a spectacular, scary crash in her second run of the giant slalom in Killington. She was immediately transported to the hospital, and nobody provided any information for a while. When she finally announced on her social media that none of her limbs was torn or broken, but some unknown object stabbed her stomach, all fans felt relief.
She will be racing in no time, with no knee injury, no fracture, only some wound.
Well, five days later, Shiffrin posted a video of herself struggling with pain only to lie down in her bed. Speaking like someone who is under the influence of strong painkillers, she explained that she is, in fact, lucky to be alive.
The object that stabbed her not only tore through her oblique muscles but missed her colon by a tiny margin. A few inches and her internal organs might have suffered a fatal blow. Now, the wound gets inflamed, causing terrible pain. Obliques are part of a core muscle system that is crucial for skiing. Or for walking, in fact. Thus, before the wound is healed, simple tasks like getting out of bed are unbearable and painful, and nobody knows when training will be possible.
Marcel Hirscher: Comeback Not Happening
Marcel Hirscher obviously did not mean his comeback as a PR stunt promoting the Van Deer brand. That is not his style; we saw him fighting hard to become competitive once again. But, then, during training, his body said that comeback had to wait. Without a spectacular crash, Marcel Hirscher tore his ACL. After a demanding career with close to no injuries, the ski legend tore his ACL now. Maybe coming back at 38 was not such a great idea after all. Hirscher leaves his career plans open for now and focuses on recovery.
Other Injuries in the Circus
In the meantime, also lower-profile racers suffered season-ending injuries. A slalom specialist, Sebastian Holzmann (GER) tore his ACL and is on his way to rehabilitation. Urs Kryenbühl (SUI) injured his knee during the downhill training in Beaver Creek. Urs is used to being injured; his operations and rehabilitation are the primary reasons he belongs to the B team instead of the elite speed team. His technical skills and brave attitude make him an elite, but lately, Urs had spent more time in hospitals than on the slopes.
Manuel Feller (AUT) announced on his social media that he injured his hip in Gurgl and did not feel fit to travel to America. Some other media posts said that he did not want to travel to America for just one race and needs time to recover from the series of DNFs. Probably, both these reasons played a role in his mind while he was making the decision.
Other athletes are returning to the races, like Alexis Pinturault (FRA), Marco Kohler (SUI), and Cyprian Sarazzin (FRA). The latter two have shown strength, speed, and confidence in training, so let us wish them all another great season.
