On the first weekend of the Winter Olympics in Italy, weather conditions permitting, the first speed competition will take place on Saturday at 11:30 a.m. The men’s downhill course in Bormio, called “Stelvio”, was slightly modified for the Olympics and has been one of the most dangerous and technically demanding in the Alpine Ski World Cup circuit since 1993. The sometimes difficult visibility conditions and the icy 3,442 meter long slope with softer sections in the lower part demand everything from the drivers, who can reach speeds of more than 140 km/h.
In December 2024, the two-time downhill winner from Kitzbühel of the same year, the Frenchman Cyprien Sarrazin, fell heavily during training in Bormio and almost lost his life. It was only thanks to the quick help of emergency doctors and surgeons, who even had to saw his skull open in the hospital because of a hematoma in his head, that he said he survived the accident with almost no lasting damage.
The FIS race director for the alpine skiing men, the South Tyrolean Markus Waldner, explained afterwards, as he has so often, that it was It’s a risky outdoor sport. Ultimately, the main responsibility lies with the athletes and the teams not to exceed the limits of people and material. Which he’s not entirely wrong about. Sarrazin was recently a guest at the World Cup downhill in Kitzbühel and said that he was working on his comeback. “Ski racing is my passion. I would like to try again to return to the World Cup, even if it didn’t work out this winter.”
The long-time former DSV driver Dominik Schwaiger also had a serious crash in Bormio in 2017 and had to end the season due to injury. In December 2023, the Austrian Marco Schwarz also had a serious fall on the Stelvio and suffered a significant knee injury, which meant the end of the season.
Mandatory airbag
Since this World Cup season, wearing a modified airbag and cut-resistant underwear (also because of the severe leg cut injury) has been mandatory des Norwegers Aleksander Aamodt Kilde 2024 in Wengen) is mandatory for men and women by the World Ski Association Fis. In the past, some stars in the scene had voluntarily given up on the airbag on the grounds that wearing the item would put them at aerodynamic disadvantages. The use of carbon shin insoles, however, was banned by the Fis because the more direct transfer of force from the lower leg and ski boot to the skis allowed for even more daring skiing lines.
If you want to win, you have to push yourself to your own limit and sometimes even beyond it. You hear that all the time, especially from the top drivers. The South Tyrolean veteran Dominik Paris, who favors “great personal responsibility”, leads the list of winners in Bormio. He has won the World Cup downhill there six times and the Super-G once.
The French ski star Alexis Pintaurault complained that, in his opinion, protective helmets were inadequate for racing and often flew off the head in serious falls. The chin strap closure was also not optimal and there was a need for improvement. He suffered a fractured tibia and a serious knee injury at the 2025 Super-G in Kitzbühel and was unable to qualify for the Winter Games.
Karlheinz Waibel, head of science and technology at the German Ski Association, points out the biggest problem in ski racing, the numerous knee injuries. Despite numerous attempts, from wearing knee braces to research into airbags for the knees, it has not yet been possible to curb this misery.
Fatal training falls
The Italian downhill skier Matteo Franzoso died in September 2025, shortly before his 26th birthday, as a result of a fall at the training camp in La Parva in Chile. The young Italian Matilde Laurenzi (19) lost her life in October 2024 after a training fall in the Senales Valley. It has long been known that the training slopes for speed disciplines are not nearly as well secured as World and European Cup courses, also for cost reasons. The former slalom specialist Felix Neureuther therefore called for higher safety standards for such training routes.
There have been numerous improvements in security over the past few decades. The paraplegia suffered by the Swiss downhill skier Silvano Beltrametti in Val d’Isere in 2001 prompted the Fis to mark the racing slopes with blue food coloring for better orientation, even in poor visibility.
Cut-resistant tarpaulins and nets, as well as large air cushions along the routes, also ensured greater safety. However, at such high speeds of over 130 km/h, even in women’s races, the risk of seriously injuring yourself if you fall is always present. Little will change in this regard in the future. During the first downhill training of the Winter Games on Wednesday, the Norwegian Fredrik Moeller was transported by helicopter in Bormio due to a fall.