“There's no more room”: After a series of skiing accidents, how to protect athletes who go down at 150 km/h ?

Skiers go up to 150 km/h. XinHua – He Canling

After a series of accidents in the professional skiing world, the question of the level of protection of athletes arises. Launched on the slopes at 150 km/h, they expose themselves to serious dangers, sometimes fatal. Helmet, airbag and regulations… how to rethink competitions?

Aleksander Kilde and his slashed calf, Cyprien Sarrazin seriously injured in the head, Mikaela Shiffrin perforated in the pelvis… Recent accidents in the World Cup are pushing skiers to demand more safety, between equipment developments and better preparation of the slopes.

In Kitzbühel this weekend, Cyprien Sarrazin will not be skiing down the terrible Streif and will not repeat his feat of last year, when he entered the history of skiing by achieving a fantastic double in the downhill in the Austrian resort.

The reason is that the skier from Dévoluy fell last month in Bormio (Italy) and, suffering from a serious concussion, must now relearn many everyday movements before considering a return. The Bormio stage, marked by many other falls, has been criticized by skiers and rekindled an endless debate about their safety, as the speed stages continue in January.

“We are part of dangerous sports. There are accidents that we cannot avoid,” says Frenchman Adrien Théaux, 40 years old, more than 20 of which have been on the world circuit. “But, on the preparation of the slopes, there are definitely things to do.” With the progress of equipment and the increase in the physical level of athletes, ski speed has increased considerably to venture more regularly beyond 150 km/h, making falls even more dangerous.

“There is no more margin”

To try to slow down the skiers, the organizers adapt the courses, either by making their descent turn more, or by playing on the snow and the movements of the terrain. But the athletes are not convinced.

“Some think that this is what will slow us down,” explains Théaux. “But it also creates a lot of disorder in our skiing. We lose speed but above all we lose a lot of safety.” “I prefer to go to 150 on (a well-prepared slope) than to go to 135 on 'bumpy' (bumpy)”, confirms Blaise Giezendanner, another French downhiller, before falling on Saturday in the Wengen descent and rupturing a cruciate ligament in his right knee.

After the criticisms made in Bormio – the Frenchman Nils Allègre even considered that Italy did not deserve to host the 2026 Olympics – the boss of the World Cup Markus Waldner had defended the Italian track, arguing that it had been prepared as it should have been. He had estimated that the main problem lay in the equipment, which was always more efficient. “There is no more margin”, he said then.

“If you go to the limit, what happened happens” in Bormio. The International Ski Federation (FIS) did try to impose this winter the wearing of airbags, a protection system under the suit that is triggered in the event of a fall. But it finally granted exemptions for around forty athletes who did not want them (due to lack of comfort or fear of an unexpected trigger).

“The FIS must take its responsibilities”, complains Xavier Fournier, head of the French speed group.“Those who don't have the airbag don't ski, period.” “In F1, some were against halos (which protect the drivers' heads) and we saw with (Romain) Grosjean how it happened,” he adds about the Frenchman's terrible accident in 2020.