Sarrazin to undergo surgery after head injury in crash in downhill training on 2026 Olympics slope

BORMIO, Italy (AP) — French standout Cyprien Sarrazin was in intensive care with a head injury and will undergo surgery after a crash during training for a World Cup downhill race on Friday on the slope set to be used for the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Sarrazin, who won the downhill in Bormio last year, was one of two skiers airlifted to a hospital after crashing and the French ski federation said he was conscious but diagnosed with a subdural hematoma — bleeding near the brain.

Shortly afterward, it gave another update saying that Sarrazin will undergo surgery later Friday.

“Following further examinations, as well as Cyprien’s evolving clinical examination, it has been decided in agreement with the Italian surgeons to operate on Cyprien this evening in order to drain the subdural haematoma,” the federation said in a statement.

Pietro Zazzi of Italy was also taken to a hospital by helicopter after a crash. The Italian ski federation said he has “a compound fracture of the tibia and fibula of his right leg” and was on his way to Milan, where he will undergo surgery on Saturday.

The incidents called into question the safety of the fearsome Stelvio slope — the course for next winter’s Milan-Cortina Olympics.

“My opinion here is clear, it’s that they don’t know how to prepare a course,” Sarrazin’s teammate Nils Allègre said. “It’s been 40 years that they have been preparing courses, but they don’t know how to do anything, apart from dangerous things.

“Maybe it’s not something everyone agrees with but it’s my opinion and it’s deep-seated. It’s not right, I don’t know what they’re trying to prove, but a year ahead of organizing the Olympics, having a course like this — they don’t deserve to have the Olympic Games here.”

Swiss skier Josua Mettler also crashed on Friday and was on his way back to Switzerland for further tests on a knee injury.

Race director Omar Galli told The Associated Press that the organizers have “significantly upgraded safety features” and will further enhance those for the Olympics.

He rejected claims the slope hadn’t been well prepared.

“I would invite him (Allègre) to come here just in the past 10 days, fortnight and see what happens from 5 a.m. until 8 p.m., when there’s wind, when there’s rain and see how we manage to resolve things,” Galli said.

“Everyone has their own opinion and it should be respected because at the end it’s the athletes who race. But probably if we asked 70 athletes we would probably end up with 70 different courses, maybe not 70 but at least 66. What’s the middle point is up to us but it could be right for one and wrong for another.”

Sarrazin, who was fastest in the first training session the previous day, was on course for another good time in Friday’s second run when he appeared to hit a bump and lost control as he was catapulted into the air, landing on his back and sliding a long way down before being brought to a halt by the safety netting on the side.

“There is also human error, like in every outdoor sport, the equipment,” Galli added. “Both today’s injuries, Sarrazin’s and Zazzi’s, came when they caught an edge.

“Then the wind also plays a determining factor (in preparation), the temperature too. A thousand external things that aren’t controllable by us, that’s for sure. You can not like it, it can seem difficult, but it’s difficult to understand how you can say it’s never prepared well when you know the work that goes into making the impossible possible.”

The 30-year-old Sarrazin enjoyed his best campaign on the World Cup circuit last season with four victories — three downhill and one super-G — but has yet to win in 2024-25.

Canadian Cameron Alexander led Friday’s training session, ahead of Switzerland’s Stefan Rogentin and Stefan Babinsky of Austria. There is a downhill scheduled for Saturday and a super-G on Sunday.

“We know the Stelvio,” Galli said. “It’s not by chance that it’s alluded to as, if not the most difficult, then certainly among the most difficult.”

Also on Friday, Swiss skier Yannick Chabloz announced his retirement at the age of 25, two years after a brutal crash on the Stelvio, in what proved to be his last race.

The men’s Alpine skiing events at the 2026 Olympics will take place in Bormio, while the women’s will be held in Cortina d’Ampezzo. The two ski areas are separated by a five-hour car ride.

___

AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports