Ski legend Bernhard Russi talks to blue Sport about injuries in the World Cup. The 1972 Olympic downhill champion explains that Odermatt was also close to a "catastrophe".
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- Ski expert Bernhard Russi talks to blue Sport about the many serious injuries in the Ski World Cup.
- The long-time SRF expert says that the media react more sensitively to injuries today because bigger names have also been affected.
- Marco Odermatt has also come close to a bad fall. Russi remembers: "Three years ago in Kitzbühel, he came very close to disaster in the finish traverse."
Bernhard Russi talks to blue Sport about the many injuries in the Ski World Cup in recent years. However, the former downhill specialist does not see a main cause: "There is no main problem, apart from the fact that the media is now a little more sensitive because bigger names have been hit. As soon as it hits the big names, the whole world is interested." After all, the speed disciplines in ski racing are a damn dangerous business. You should never forget that the worst can happen every day.
Russi explains why there are always phases in which the top skiers push everything to the limit: "There was a ripple effect in which people like Alexander Kilde and, in Kilde's wake, Odermatt started to push themselves to the very limit in the speed disciplines. That means in terms of line, speed and willingness to take risks." This went on until it "clunked". Only then does something like common sense return, says Russi.
But this year it was also bad luck with the crashes, especially with Sarrazin: "He can do this crash ten times and he gets up at the bottom and keeps going. It's just really unlucky to hit the ground the wrong way."
Odermatt also "close to disaster"
When asked what goes through the mind of a rider like Odermatt when he witnesses falls like Sarrazin's, Russi explains: "If he analyzes it correctly, an Odermatt knows that it won't happen to him. He would see this wave, this counter slope and wouldn't give full pressure."
Russi remembers that it has been different before: "He's done it too. But it went well for him." Russi looks back: "I can still remember three years ago in Kitzbühel in the finish traverse. He somehow squeezed himself into the goal. That was very close to a disaster."
However, the 1972 Olympic champion adds: "But he certainly looked at it afterwards and analyzed it properly. You could feel that this year too, and that's part of being a great champion, that at certain moments he feels it's not worth risking everything here because I can lose too much."
