Norway’s Aleksander Aamodt Kilde won by a large margin on Saturday in a World Cup downhill in Val Gardena, Italy, that was marred by a nasty crash involving Swiss skier Marc Gisin.
Gisin lost control before a jump midway down, flew into the air and landed awkwardly on his side and back right in the middle of the course’s famous camel bumps. He was then bumped into the air again and the back of his head hit the snow in a second impact.
Kilde finished a significant 0.86 seconds ahead of Austria’s Max Franz, who led the training run.
Beat Feuz of Switzerland came third, 0.92 behind.
Gisin was lying motionless on the course before doctors and trainers arrived for assistance.
A rescue helicopter landed on the snow and took off for the hospital in nearby Bolzano with Gisin onboard after he had received treatment for almost 30 minutes.
“His condition is stable enough that he can be flown back to Switzerland tonight for further diagnosis,” the Swiss ski team said in a statement.
Kilde has long been considered the next in line of a long list of Norwegian greats, from Kjetil Andre Aamodt and Lasse Kjus to Aksel Lund Svindal and Kjetil Jansrud.
Franz moved atop the overall standings, seven points ahead of Svindal, who finished seventh. Seven-time defending overall champion Marcel Hirscher, who is 60 points back in fourth, is expected to reclaim the lead during a stretch of five technical events over a seven-day span beginning yesterday in Alta Badia, Italy.
In the downhill standings, Franz and Feuz tied for the lead.
It was Feuz’s first podium result in Val Gardena.
“I’m very happy after trying 10 times, but I can’t really celebrate because of my teammate Gisin’s crash,” Feuz said.
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