Norwegian skier’s leg broken, another speaks of ‘near-death experience’ – see how Kitzbühel’s plunge proved its brutality again

Henrik Röa was injured in Kitzbühel, Austria just before the finish line. World Cup leader Marco Odermatt narrowly avoided the safety fence, as did Aleksander Aamodt Kilde.

Austria’s legendary Kitzbühel plunge saw another brutal injury when the Norwegian Henrik Roa crashed violently just before the finish line. Röa’s left ski hit the snow, after which he flew through the air before crashing to the ground.

Röa couldn’t get up. The camera person arrived first, followed by the medical staff. Röa was treated for a few minutes in the area, after which a helicopter flown to the scene took the Norwegian to the hospital.

According to the Norwegian VG (you switch to another service) Röa broke his leg in the situation. The leg has also been successfully operated, and not the sports manager Claus Rysten according to the investigations, other injuries were found.

Sports expert Kalle Palander according to the calculator, the speed just before the finish line is about 145 kilometers per hour. NRK’s ​​expert and the Austrian newspaper Kroner Zeitung have also estimated the speed to be more than 140 kilometers per hour.

– I often compare Kitzbühel to Monaco’s F1 race. It’s legendary. Everyone is afraid of the Kitzbühel plunge. It’s the hardest downhill slope in the world. If you can get it down, you’re a winner, Palander said earlier from the slope.

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Röa was not the only one who had problems. Also one of the top names in the World Cup Marco Odermatt and Aleksander Aamodt Kilde were close to crashing, but both stayed on track. Kilde was 16th in the final results, but Odermatt was out of the points for the first time since 2019.

In a wild situation, Aamodt Kilde managed to avoid the safety fence with one foot by a few cents. Odermatti’s situation was similar, but he also avoided being kicked out.

– It was a near-death experience. I saw the net approaching and for a moment I thought I was going to face the net, but I had centimeters on my side. It went well, Kilde commented to NRK.

– There are a lot of risks in this sport, Kilde added.

Odermatt was injured

According to information from the German newspaper Blick (you will switch to another service) Odermatti is suspected to be suffering from an injury to the glenoid. The leader of the World Cup will still go for magnetic resonance imaging to find out. However, it is certain that Odermatti will not be seen in Saturday’s competition.

Almost every year someone gets injured either in a race or in training. For example, in 2021 Ryan Cochrane-Siegle broke his neck and suffered several serious injuries. Laski’s clavicle was broken, in addition to which the anterior cruciate ligament and the inner ligament of the knee were torn.

In the Kitzbühel plunge, the top speed can reach 150 kilometers per hour. The highest quote is from 2006, when Michael Walchofer dropped as much as 153 kilometers per hour.

Finland Elian Lehto, 22, competed in Kitzbühel for the first time. He was 34th, 1.71 seconds behind the winner.

– It wasn’t the open-minded calculation I was looking for. First time here, so I forgive myself a little, Lehto commented in the press release.