Serious accident on the Olympic toboggan run
Polish luger Mateusz Sochowicz is seriously injured in hospital after a training accident
Quelle: Getty Images/Adam Pretty
Around three months before the Beijing Winter Games, a serious accident overshadows the preparations. Mateusz Sochowicz hits a barrier in the ice channel during training that shouldn’t have been there. The Polish tobogganist is seriously injured.
Dhe Olympic Winter Games in Beijing have not even started and yet an athlete is seriously injured in hospital. Polish toboggan runner Mateusz Sochowicz fell during training races on the Yanqing Olympic track and sustained serious injuries. This was announced by the Polish Luge Association.
The athlete suffered a complicated fracture of the left lower leg, he also suffered cuts and bruises. In addition, he has pain in his right knee and pelvis and it is not clear whether he will still be able to compete this season, said the Secretary General of the Polish Luge Federation, Janusz Tatera, in an interview with local media.
“Tomorrow I’ll give a bigger update, but the situation is that I’m alive and I’m” fine “, wrote the seriously injured Sochowicz on Facebook late on Monday evening. The 25-year-old is currently in hospital.
The accident happened at the Yanqing National Sliding Center, where several competitions are held at the Olympic Games
What: REUTERS
During training, the toboggan hit a barrier that should have been open when a sled is on the track, according to a message from the Polish Luge Sports Association. It is not yet known why the lock was in the way.
Sochowicz reports from the hospital
The day after the accident, Sochowicz got in touch again. He wrote on Facebook about a picture of him from his hospital bed: “Two MRI scans were made to rule out some things that I am only moderately familiar with.” Sochowicz speaks of a stitched wound on the right leg and an operation the left kneecap.
Apart from his legs, he’s fine. “The good news is that the medication is working and I’m starting to feel alive. There is a lot of unnecessary work ahead of me, ”said the Polish tobogganist, who will be in a wheelchair for the time being.
Sochowicz’s misfortune is reminiscent of the fatal accident of Nodar Kumaritashvili. Shortly before the opening ceremony of the Winter Games in Vancouver 2010, the Georgian luge was thrown out of a curve during training on the track in Whistler and hit a steel girder. Kumaritashvili succumbed to his serious injuries on the way to the hospital.
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