World Cup Finals DH - Course Set & Ladies Injuries

[charles martel]

Did anyone see the ladies downhill finals today at Soldeu in Andorra?

A number of the ladies, each absolutely excellent in her own right, was injured because the course set put a sharp turn followed immediately by a long-air jump.

It seems to me this was really unfair, perilous and irresonsible.The purpose of the race is to see who is the fastest and, as such, has the most technical ability. The setting of a course that injures this number of racers would seem to me to be culpable on the part of the FIS.

Thoughts, please?

[skifishbum]

I think
I'm gonna ask Bobby Baker if you can has your own smjw forum

[patxi]

I watched it and it seemed pretty tame to me. A couple of tricky turns but nothing special. I only saw one bad fall/injury to Cornelia Huetter. Looked scary for Haehlen but she seems to be racing the Super G tomorrow. Those were the only two that DNF.

You might be thinking of the training runs over the previous two days? Sad to see Mowinckel crash out and fuck up her knee. Gut also seems to be out.

[nyskirat]

Eh, there's only so much you can do with that kind of terrain.

I didn't see the course or the race but generally with speed events and terrain, especially in DH, the terrain dictates the course. If they had to have a turn coming into the jump chances are it was tough to avoid.

That being said, if the racers were turning off it and could have avoided it, that's on them. Turning off a jump is an awful idea.

[nickel]

I worked on course a lot during the 2010 olympics. The courses had every roller juiced up, every off camber exaggerated, and the sets were brutally punishing. Frankly, I'm all for it as it separates the wheat from the chaf.

People complain about boring courses, then they also complain when courses are too brutal.

[Dee Hubbs]

The DH courses are always set by the FIS Race director. The same guy (one for Men’s tour and one for Ladies’ tour) have set every single DH race all year (and for the last 5+ years).
They are very in touch with the conditions, the terrain and the ability of the athletes.
It’s easy to comment from the couch. Gates are set in specific area to match terrain, control speed or set trajectory.
If the course setter was bad at their job, or unsafe the coaches and athletes would have been heard and changes in personnel would be made.
The amount of responsibility these guys have on their shoulders, and the weight and severity of their decision can not be understood by many.
If you have ever discussed with a race director or race coach about an athlete that has lost their life while on their track you would see a the weight it holds.

[dcpnz]

True but something was a little whack with that set when virtually every single one of the best women in the world came over that jump getting bucked and windmilling their arms.


Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[charles martel]

Yes, yes, I know all this. Explaining who sets the course doesn't explain if that specific set was bad, even if the setter had years of experience and undertook what he might have considered to be due diligence. Experts make mistakes and bad judgments all the time.

I know about the previous Olympic DH course that you were talking about, as well. That to me did not seem to be dangerous, just simply technically difficult. There is a difference between the two.

There were more than a couple of injuries, in particular coming into a jump immediately after that rather tight turn, with the skiers landing backwards, with the wind being what it was.

You can sit on the couch, of course, and say, well they're the best, so they should know better.

Actually, landing with your weight back at that sort of speed and unbalanced position it's almost an automatic ACL injury, if not a meniscus tear.

[patxi]

Yes, yes, I know all this. Explaining who sets the course doesn't explain if that specific set was bad, even if the setter had years of experience and undertook what he might have considered to be due diligence. Experts make mistakes and bad judgments all the time.

I know about the previous Olympic DH course that you were talking about, as well. That to me did not seem to be dangerous, just simply technically difficult. There is a difference between the two.

There were more than a couple of injuries, in particular coming into a jump immediately after that rather tight turn, with the skiers landing backwards, with the wind being what it was.

You can sit on the couch, of course, and say, well they're the best, so they should know better.

Actually, landing with your weight back at that sort of speed and unbalanced position it's almost an automatic ACL injury, if not a meniscus tear.

Other than Huetter, who was injured?

[galibier_numero_un]

Were there any complaints after the training runs?

I didn't get to watch the race, but my wife told me that there were variable winds on race day.

... Thom

Sent from my LM-G710VM using Tapatalk