The skiing community is mourning the loss of Matteo Franzoso. The talented 25-year-old Italian World Cup racer was tragically killed in a preseason training accident in Chile. The collision occurred in late September, only a few months before the next Winter Olympics, which will be held in Milan Cortina, Italy. The skiing community is profoundly saddened by this loss. Yet, as they race, discussions of course safety and the dangers of the sport itself are escalating.
Franzoso experienced the worst crash of his life during his training at La Parva. He penetrated through two layers of safety fencing and crashed into a wooden fence that was roughly 20 to 30 feet beyond the course. The tragic accident has reopened a new conversation over ski racing’s safety standards and regulations. Officials and athletes alike are finally putting serious scrutiny on the protective measures taken for competitors.
A Call for Improved Safety Measures
As Sofia Goggia, the 2018 Olympic downhill champion from Italy, recently noted, “It is dangerous; it’s ski racing. She further highlighted the difficulties of creating a safe environment in this dangerous sport. She noted that it shouldn’t fall on the coaches of our sports teams to ensure no one gets hit. A coach doesn’t only show you how to ski,” she said. This nuanced feeling adds to the difficulties of establishing accountability in a sport that is dangerous by nature.
Johan Eliasch, President of the International Ski Federation (FIS), welcomed the international governing body’s long-standing focus on improving high safety standards. He stated that FIS is actively working to “prevent as much as possible horrible accidents to happen.” Eliasch pointed out the inequities in safety spending between countries’ teams. He argued that richer countries, like Austria and Switzerland, have the ability to invest larger sums into improving training course safety.
“For a smaller federation, this can be a challenge. Here we do step in and help.” – Johan Eliasch
Vincent Kriechmayr, an Austrian speed specialist, joined the chorus for better safety provisions. He was especially worried that the training environment continues to lack the high-quality, enduring standards that exist on race days. He strongly suggested better cooperation between national federations so that safety measures are standardized across all training sites.
“We need to make sure that when you have training runs in speed that the safety standards are exactly the same as on the big race day.” – Johan Eliasch
Balancing Risk and Training Realities
Even as safety measures are greatly advocated for, many of the skiers believe that danger is a natural element of the sport. Roland Assinger, who coaches the Austria women’s team, admitted it is difficult to reduce risk. He reiterated that a certain amount of danger will always be with us. He stated, “A risk will always remain, but we coaches try to minimize it.”
Undoubtedly, this resonates with every racer out there who has administrated through something hard. Alexis Pinturault speaks to the challenges athletes frequently encounter training in environments where safety is compromised. “We are training in many places where it’s not really safe, yes, that’s 100 percent sure,” he said.
American skiing star Mikaela Shiffrin shared her thoughts on safety based on her experience. After recently experiencing a scary crash herself last year, she started to gain awareness about the dangers lurking while out training. Shiffrin provided Copper Mountain in Colorado as one of the best training venues, saying it represents the highest level of safety improvement possible.
“Copper Mountain is the safest training course in the world, with A netting from top to bottom and countless B nets.” – Mikaela Shiffrin
Franzoso himself had lamented a lack of risk management in the sport. He added that risk is just part of skiing. These invisible harms are not part of a normal risk matrix like athletes go through to weigh potential dangers and seek to mitigate all risks.
“If you think too much about it, you become paralysed. But it’s really important that we can assess what those risks are and try to find ways to mitigate that as much possible.” – Matteo Franzoso
The Road Ahead for Ski Racing Safety
As the ski community remembers the tragic loss of Franzoso and other fatalities, calls for a more holistic mindset regarding safety are more urgent than ever before. Christian Scherer noted a need for a more linked up strategy from national federations. Shifting to this approach will help make sure all athletes have a safe place to compete.
“But we need a coordinated approach from the national federations.” – Christian Scherer
The discussion around safety has been exacerbated by climate factors that have affected and in some cases limited the conditions in which marchers can train. Kriechmayr said overnight snowfall needs the snow safety workers to pack the snow as soon as it ever made him able to train on slopes.
The current debate represents an important fork in the road for the sport of skiing. Most importantly, it brings up the broader question of how we should ultimately strike that balance between ensuring the excitement of competition and protecting athlete health.
