Michelle Gisin operated: serious injury in St. Moritz trial

Michelle Gisin will undergo surgery after a nasty fall in the second time trial ahead of Friday’s downhill in St. Moritz, Switzerland, that will open the fast track season in the women’s World Cup. The Swiss skier crashed into the nets at a speed of more than 110 km/h. This was reported by the Swiss Ski Federation, which published a post on its Instagram account: “Michelle Gisin fell today during the second downhill run in St. Moritz and will require surgery. The 32-year-old was transported by helicopter to the local clinic, where examinations showed injuries to her right wrist, left knee and cervical spine”.

Luca Giorgetti

“To treat her neck injury, Michelle Gisin was transferred with Rega (Swiss Air Rescue Guard, ed.) to the Hirslanden Clinic in Zurich. The cervical spine surgery will be carried out as early as today– adds the Swiss Ski Team note. Michelle Gisin, considering the situation, is relatively well: the athlete from Obwalden can move her arms and legs normally”. The 32-year-old Swiss, a two-time Olympic champion, will only be able to undergo new examinations and treatments on her right wrist and left knee when her cervical spine has been stabilized.

For the record, the winner of the event was Switzerland’s Johana Hählen. Starting with bib 56, the hostess stopped the clock at 1’32″70, doing 13 hundredths better than Ester Ledecka, until then the leader on the Corviglia. And just behind them were Sofia Goggia and Laura Pirovano, both able to confirm good sensations in a training session characterized by flat visibility and a long stop due to the bad fall in which Michelle Gisin fell. The Bergamasque and the woman from Trentino paid respectively 21 and 22 hundredths of a second from Hählen: both at ease on the Swiss track, especially in the more technical middle section.

“I didn’t ski well today – Sofia Goggia admitted to the parterre -, I had some imperfections: the visibility conditions were difficult and I didn’t feel like pushing too hard. In some situations I did not hold the line I had in mind, but I could see very little on the ground. The track has a lot of waves, movements: in the afternoon I will do video analysis and tomorrow we will see. I know I was in control.” Similar concepts for Laura Pirovano: “It was quite a difficult test because of the visibility, very flat. Hopefully it will be better in the coming days. In these conditions you have to pay attention to everything and that requires a lot more energy. That is also why I am a bit surprised to see myself at this point in the ranking”.