Alexander Aamodt Kjeld (31) and sporting director Klaus Rist want to slow down to prevent more serious injuries.
- Alpine climber Alexander Aamodt Kilde and sports director Klaus Risti want to slow down alpine skiing to prevent more serious injuries.
- Several athletes, including Kildee, have suffered injuries this winter.
- Kilde suggests safety measures such as airbags and cut-resistant underwear, and believes lowering speeds is one way to improve safety.
- Raist points out that average speed is increasing due to improved equipment, skating techniques, physics and lubrication.
- Discussions about reducing average speed in downhill, super-G races and giant slalom are essential in an alpine environment.
– It is pushed towards an undesirable extent. There have been a lot of falls this season for people who wouldn't normally fall. Kildee says in a press conference on Thursday that the International Ski Federation now has a responsibility to consider the measures.
He met the press for the first time after the fall of Wengen. There he said he could not promise a return to the top level.
After a dislocated shoulder and a calf injury that resulted in multiple nerve damage, he now wants to see a change in the program.
– We have no room to lose anyone, says Keld.
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Kildee is just one of many alpine climbers who have suffered serious injuries this winter:
Petra Vlhova, Markus Vossland, Barnabas Szollo, Remi Kocchi, Marko Kohler, Christoph Innerhofer, Mikaela Shiffrin, Valerie Grenier and Corinne Suter have all fallen hard and injured themselves this winter.
– FIS must review the program and security. You have to look at speed and safety equipment. “We've seen a lot of falls this year, including many athletes who don't normally fall,” Keld said.
Mikaela Shiffrin, Valerie Grenier and Corinne Sutter all suffered injuries in Cortina last weekend.
Markus Wassmeier, who won two Olympic golds in Lillehammer in 1994, criticizes the athletes.
– When I see mistakes from Cortina, they are all extreme mistakes in driving and line. It surprised me a bit,” says Wassmeyer, according to the Austrian newspaper Kronen Zeitung.
The source says that it was not the snow falling on the snow that injured him, but rather his collision with the fence. Many safety measures such as airbags and cut-resistant underwear are suggested.
There are many things you can do to improve safety, and reducing speed is one of them, Kildee says.
Sports director of the Alpine national team, Klaus-Johan Riest, points to speed as a challenge in the sport.
– The average speed should decrease, says Ryste to VG.
Raist says increased speed does not necessarily lead to more accidents.
– But high speed increases the possibility of damage. If you have a higher speed, you have more energy in your body, Rist says.
He lists a number of things that lead to increased speeds: improved equipment, ski technique, physics, and lubrication.
Rist fears the severity of collisions will become more serious. He's not sure how to reduce speeds.
– I don't have an answer to that. “We as an environment need to start discussing the average speed in downhill, super-sprints, and giant slalom,” he says.
Alexander Aamodt Kilde fell badly in Wengen on January 13 this year.
In Wengen, the average speed increased by just over 3.5 kilometers per hour from 2015 to 2024.
– I didn't think much about it. A lot of snow is used on the slopes, but at the same time we know that it is an extreme sport. But there are limits, says Kildee when asked about the ongoing development.
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