Airbag triggered

ÖSV lady crashed in the icefall at 109 km/h

Magdalena Egger landed on her back before crashing into the net.(Bild: Screenshot ORF)

US girl Lauren Macuga's victory party in St. Anton came to an abrupt halt at start number 36. Suddenly there was dead silence in the finish area in St. Anton after Magdalena Egger crashed in the icefall, turned left into the net and was thrown back onto the "Karl Schranz" course.

However, the skier from Lech immediately raised her hand, signaling that she had survived the crash without any major injuries and shortly afterwards skied to the finish line despite a damaged left ski, where she was greeted with cheers from the ski fans and was looked after and comforted by her ÖSV team colleagues. "I'm fine - physically I don't feel anything at the moment," said "Maggy", but still had a little water in her eyes. "Well, nobody likes going into the net. It's against every human instinct."

What had happened anyway? "I got a knock and subsequently cut off," explained the head pilot, who was "flashed" at 109 km/h at this point. "But then everything happens so quickly. You just try to react - which fortunately I did very well in this case."

Egger's racing ski was ready for the scrapheap after the take-off and was brought to safety by head lady Verena Fink.(Bild: Peter Weihs/Kronenzeitung)

Egger escaped with a scare and a "blue back" - caused by the marking paint in the snow.(Bild: Peter Weihs/Kronenzeitung)

It was also a good thing that the army athlete was wearing an airbag and it opened before she hit the net. "I landed on my back first and the airbag was like a cushion for me. It wasn't a hard impact," said Mäggy, describing her impressions. "I felt exactly how it deployed. There's a gas cartridge in there and you can smell it the moment it deploys." The local heroine was able to return home to Lech uninjured, but without any points. The first downhill training in Cortina (It) awaits on Thursday.