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Lanzinger stable after emergency amputation

Austrian alpine skier Matthias Lanzinger takes part in the Super-G World Cup competition in Kvitfjell, Norway, on Sunday moments before his crash. PHOTO: AFP

Austrian skier Matthias Lanzinger was in a stable condition on Tuesday after undergoing an emergency amputation of his lower left leg.

Doctors said Lanzinger, who broke the leg in a World Cup race in Norway on Sunday, might have died without the operation.

"An immediate operation was necessary due to an extreme deterioration in his general situation and the threat of a fatality," Austrian vascular specialist Thomas Hoelzenbein said after the operation carried out in Oslo. "As a result of the surgery his condition has improved considerably. There is currently no acute risk to his life."

Hoelzenbein's comments were made in a statement released by the Austrian ski federation. It added that the skier was in a critical but stable condition.

Lanzinger, 27, underwent two operations on Monday as doctors battled to save his leg.

Austrian team spokesman Robert Brunner said there had been plans to fly Lanzinger to the Salzburg hospital in which doctor Artur Trost saved fellow Austrian skier Hermann Maier from amputation in 2001.

The plan was dropped given the seriousness of the skier's injuries. The leg suffered a double fracture and was no longer blood irrigated, Brunner said.

Lanzinger, whose best result was a third place in a World Cup Super-G in Beaver Creek in 2005, crashed spectacularly out of his run in the latter stages of the Super-G race on the Olympiabakken course in Kvitfjell, near Lillehammer.

He finished up in the safety netting at the side of the course and was carried down on a sledge.

The Austrian press has been critical of the organizers, questioning why no helicopter was ready near the race course and saying a private helicopter had to be summoned to fly Lanzinger to Oslo.

"The lacking safety measures at these races are shocking," Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer was quoted as saying by the Austria Press Agency on Tuesday. "I can't understand how a World Cup race could be organized at such a low safety level."

Austrian sports secretary Reinhold Lopatka said the accident showed the importance of immediate medical care being available at races.

"Organizers who fail here should be held liable," Lopatka said.

International Ski Federation general secretary Sarah Lewis said World Cup events are the responsibility of the hosting national federation.

"The race would not have gone ahead and started if it had not satisfied all the safety requirements in terms of netting, course setting and visibility," she said. "Medical supervision is the responsibility of the Norwegian organizing committee. Kvitfjell is a very reliable venue in terms of staging competitions ... it is close to a hospital and relatively close to the capital city."

Austrian ski federation president Peter Schroecksnadel said it was too early to apportion blame.

"We won't take any steps until we exactly know all the circumstances," Schroecksnadel said.

Hans Pum, the federation's Alpine director, called for a discussion on safety at the World Cup circuit.

"We should clear this case soon and bring all relevant parties together to discuss speed, equipment and course preparation, as the safety and the health of the athletes come first," Pum said.
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