Russian ‘seriously hurt’ in ski crash
Maria Komissarova will leave Sochi after being seriously hurt in a crash which required immediate surgery.
Olympic skicross racer Maria Komissarova of Russia underwent a successful 6½-hour operation on her broken and
dislocated spine following a training accident.
Russian freestyle ski federation spokesman Mikhail Verzeba said Komissarova fractured the 12th dorsal vertebrae in her lower-middle back and was taken to a hospital near the Rosa Khutor Extreme Park for emergency surgery.
When our doctor discusses everything with the hospital medics, we are going to issue a statement and post it on our site.
“The operation is over … it’s been successful” Verzeba said.
“When our doctor discusses everything with the hospital medics, we are going to issue a statement and post it on our site.”
The 23-year-old Komissarova was practicing for next Friday’s contest on a sunny morning on the 1,200-meter course, which has nine banked turns and 25 jumps.
In the main competition, six skiers race against each other, with the top three advancing through heats until the final.
Normally during practice runs, skiers are on the course themselves, or traveling down the mountain in loosely packed bunches.
Jenny Wiedeke, spokeswoman for the international ski federation, said the accident occurred on a series of jumps near the top of the course and that Komissarova fell while exiting the third jump.
She was taken by sled to the medical services tent, and from there to the hospital. Team doctors decided to do the surgery immediately instead of transporting Komissarova down the mountain.
Komissarova is ranked 33rd in the current World Cup standings and recovered from a leg injury last year to qualify for the Olympics.
Her best World Cup finish was a second-place at a race in Switzerland in 2012 and at that event, Canadian skicross racer Nik Zoricic suffered fatal head injuries in a crash near the final jump of a heat in the men’s race.
“Nik’s death wasn’t anything that happened with contact” American racer John Teller said. “But we all understand how dangerous it is.”
Teller said the biggest concern for any skicross racer comes during the racing part, not training or qualifications, which are individual runs down the mountain.
He said most of the competitors had been complimentary of the course setup for the Sochi Games but labeled it a “bigger course.”
“It’s like a North American style course” he said. “We race skicross all year long in Europe. They tend to be smaller courses. I feel like this course is more of an X Games style of course.”