Bormio’s plunging slope speaks volumes. According to the French athlete, the 2026 Olympics should not be held there.
Alpine skier Elian Lehto was responsible for the third best World Cup diving competition of his career in Bormio, Italy, when he was 16th. Last season, the Finn was 11th twice.
A very challenging and even dangerous slope has spoken in Bormio this year as well. French astrologer Cyprien Sarrazin dropped out dramatically in practice on Friday. He had emergency surgery.
The 30-year-old Sarrazin suffered a brain hemorrhage from the run-out. The French Ski Federation announced on Saturday that the skier’s surgery went well.
The race on Saturday saw a lot of outliers. In Lehto’s opinion, already reaching the finish line in Bormio is an achievement.
– This year, four guys left to return to the hospital. That’s a really raw track that gives no mercy. Just coming down is an achievement. However, I always go for the results.
“No one forces”
The track profile suits Lehto and his Swiss training buddies perfectly. Switzerland took a double victory in the plunge, when Alexis Monney was number one and Franjo Von Allmen two.
Sarraz’s national team mate, French Nils Allègre on the other hand, roared from the slope to a loud tone after Friday’s serious accident.
In a little over a year Bormio will host the speed events of the Milan and Cortina Olympics.
– In my opinion, athletes are not respected in any way. When we got there, the track was already destroyed during the first practices.
– I don’t understand what they are trying to prove to us. The Olympics are one year away… They don’t deserve the Olympics, Allègre would say for Eurosport.
Italian injured in Friday’s training By Pietro Zazzi injuries also require surgical treatment.
30-year-old Norwegian accountant Adrian Smiseth Sejersted stated the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation for NRKthat the track is life-threatening. According to the Norwegian, what makes the track challenging is that there are potholes, ice and even stones.
Lehto, on the other hand, is not in favor of modifying the track.
– If we start editing, the genre will change. We’ve been doing it the same way for the last 25 years. It has always been difficult and dangerous here, but it is up to us as individuals.
– If someone thinks that they are not ready to count, they are not ready to count. No one is forcing you to be here.
Brutal competition
Lehto sees that the tracks themselves are not that dangerous. The increased speeds cause a moment of danger.
He also saw this when the Italian Zazzi was injured during Friday’s training.
– His jump was way too big. Jumps don’t have to be a hundred meters long or 20 meters high. But the fact that we would start modifying the track in light of the turns is out of the question.
Lehto, who trains with the Swiss national team, says that his training group shares the same opinion.
The 2026 Olympics will be held in February. Lehto reminds us that at that time the conditions are usually different. The Norwegian Sejersted was on the same lines.
– The slope is completely different in February, when there is more snow. Of course, none of us can know what the conditions will be like then. I trust what is being done in Bornio, said the Finn.
– The fact is that this is a brutal competition. There is ice and sloppiness. We are the best alpine skiers in the world, but it is also difficult for us, Lehto admitted.