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Mayer mulls return after downhill crash
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Olympic champion Matthias Mayer has been released from the hospital, 11 days after breaking two vertebrae while wearing a protective air bag in a much-debated World Cup downhill crash.
The Austrian skier says he is “basically doing very well” and is expecting to get back on skis in August to prepare for the 2016-17 season.
During the December 19 downhill in Val Gardena, Mayer lost control and spun around, flying down the hill backward before landing hard on his right side. It was the first time a safety air bag was inflated during a race, prompting a debate among skiers whether the new system caused the serious injury or prevented Mayer from getting hurt even worse.
Mayer says “no system can protect you at such a very nasty crash.”
In a wild downhill at Santa Ceterina Valfurva, Italy, on Tuesday, Adrien Theaux won by a large margin but Christof Innerhofer grabbed most of the attention by finishing fourth after skiing halfway down the course with a gate attached to him.
About a minute into his run, the Italian got his left arm wrapped around a gate and the bright fluorescent orange panel and long pole caught onto his equipment. After about 30 seconds, Innerhofer rid himself of the pole but he carried the panel to the finish at speeds above 120kph, earning the Italian loud cheers from the home crowd.
“Bode Miller’s no longer around so there needs to be another crazy guy,” Innerhofer said. “It was really at the limit and very dangerous. ... It felt like a parachute behind me.”
Theaux won in 1 minute, 47.29 seconds on the dark and steep Deborah Compagnoni course for a 1.04-second advantage over Hannes Reichelt of Austria.
In Lienz, Austria, Frida Hansdotter held on to her first-run lead to win a women’s World Cup slalom, making her the main candidate to take over the discipline title from the injured Mikaela Shiffrin.
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