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As Plecko explained in a video press conference, Schmidhofer suffered a dislocated fracture of the left knee joint, which tore all the ligaments in the knee. “You certainly need a tiered delivery concept,” said the doctor. “First we will try to return the bone to its optimal shape, stabilize it, and then treat some of the ligaments.”
Only after a regeneration phase could the rest of the ligament structures be reconstructed and the anterior and posterior cruciate ligament treated in 5 to 10 weeks by arthroscopy. It was a serious injury, but not a “total loss” because the blood vessels and nerves weren’t damaged, Plecko explained.
Schmidhofer falls hard
The Val d’Isere women’s downhill race was overshadowed by Nicole Schmidhofer, who fell through the safety net at more than 100 km / h. He suffered a tear in the anterior cruciate ligament and the collateral ligament in his left knee.
“Skiing again in eight, ten months”
“I’m very, very well cared for, and I’m fine,” Schmidhofer said during a video conference from his hospital bed. Styrian, 31, was optimistic and, as usual, combative. According to his own statements, he did not allow questions to be approached after the end of his career. “If you think about how well such a good swing can fill, then that question is quickly resolved.”
On the way back he doesn’t want to push himself, he feels in good hands at the hospital in Graz. “I want to ski again in eight, maybe ten months. That’s my pressure on doctors, ”said Schmidhofer.
The output “seemed a little cool”
The Styrian flew into the net on Friday on the descent into Val d’Isere on the lower leg of the route after a high-speed jump, cutting it with the sharp edges of the skis and keeping hidden between two nets for cameras . This made recovery difficult and at the same time prevented the runner from falling into the forest.
“He looked kind of cool,” Schmidhofer said after studying his dramatic departure. “He was a bit like Magic on TV… David Copperfield. Nici drives there, and there is the intersection (of the camera), and then Nici leaves ”. She was also sick with the coronavirus in the preseason preparation phase and ruled out a connection to the fall. “I have done very well this week. You never felt tired, it had nothing to do with Corona. “
Second serious injury
For the Styrian, it is the next serious injury after January 2016, when the anterior cruciate ligament was torn and the internal and external meniscus of the right knee was torn during downhill training at Cortina d’Ampezzo. In February 2017, he crowned his career with Super G gold at the World Championships in St. Moritz, and in March 2019 he won the relegation crystal. He has made the list of winners in four World Cup races so far: three times in the downhill, once in the Super-G.
In the last hours, his teammates reminded him of bad falls like that of the Swiss Silvano Beltrametti, said Schmidhofer. This ended in 2001, also in Val d’Isere, a paraplegic in a wheelchair. “At first I didn’t even think about him. But I saw the television images of my fall and I know I was very lucky, ”said Schmidhofer.
