"Step on the brakes"

Crash orgy in the World Cup: Kilde has a proposed solution

Aleksander Aamodt Kilde talks about how to counteract the violent falls in the Ski World Cup.

(Bild: GEPA/GEPA pictures, AP/Alessandro Trovati)

"Someone has to step on the brakes. "In Kitzbühel, the long-term injured Aleksander Aamodt Kilde is a guest before another shoulder operation and is thinking about what could be done to improve safety in the speed sector. The series of serious crashes is "bad for the sport, bad for the image of the sport and bad for recruiting young talent", said the 32-year-old and warned: "Someone has to step on the brakes." He would start with the racing suits ...

In an interview with APA - Austria Presse Agentur, Kilde noted that injuries have "unfortunately always been part of the whole thing". "But I think things are happening more often now and bad injuries are happening more often." It feels like "we are losing one or two athletes every weekend". In his opinion, there is no main cause for the many falls, but it is always about the equipment. "We can hardly control nature, but what we can control is the material," said Kilde.

"You should start with slower suits"
 "We know the parameters: Speed, aggressiveness and snow. These three things are being pushed further and further. Athletes want to ski faster and faster, ski a tighter line. What can we do about it? We can bring the speed down. How can we bring the speed down? Slower skis, slower speed suits," explained the winner of 21 World Cup races and specified: "You should start with slower suits."

Even a reduction in average speed of 5 km/h would make a big difference, said Kilde. Less force would be exerted and the athletes would tire less quickly. "The appeal of the race would still be the same," emphasized the Norwegian. He himself would have no problem riding a little slower "if everyone does it, if there are rules".

Aleksander Aamodt Kilde

(Bild: APA/EXPA/JOHANN GRODER)

No opinion on carbon inserts
There is no single component that is responsible for crashes and serious injuries. He could not comment on the carbon shin guards under discussion because he had never used them. "But it makes sense that it makes everything even more aggressive," said Kilde. But first you have to "get to the root of the problem". "Then we solve it from the ground up instead of starting at the top of the tree."

Kilde said that the athletes had already sought contact with the FIS on the subject of safety. "We brought it up, up to a certain point where athletes no longer have a say. But it's also difficult for the FIS to know what to do," he said. In any case, "you shouldn't just introduce superficial measures and then say you're going to do something anyway."

Further surgery soon
Just under a year ago, Kilde injured his left shoulder and other parts of his body in a fall in the Wengen downhill. Last summer, a serious infection attacked the bone. "Last week there was positive news that the infection is slowly clearing from the bone. It is now well enough to operate again. We just have to find a date because it's a complicated operation," he reported in Kitzbühel. It should be ready in a few weeks. The operation is to take place at the Hochrum Private Clinic near Innsbruck. "Unfortunately, I already know every room there," said Kilde and laughed.