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HELP NEEDED: Lucas Braathen was finally transported out of the goal crease on a stretcher. Photo: FABRICE COFFRINI / AFP
Lucas Braathen (20) will be out for six to nine months after it became clear Friday night that the great talent smoked the lateral ligament on the inside of his knee. Atle Lie McGrath (20) will also be out for several weeks.
Thus, the rest of the season expires for Braathen, including the World Cup in Italy Cortina d’Ampezzo in February.
– Braathen injured his knee. He has suffered a ligament injury. I haven’t seen him in person yet. I spoke with the doctor in Switzerland and we agree that it requires surgery. MRI scans seem to have a type of injury that needs to be operated on, national team doctor Marc Strauss tells VG.
– How long will you be away then?
– Then he’s out for six to nine months.
Atle Lie McGrath fell in the first round and this winter’s World Cup, February 8-21, is in danger for him.
– How do you assess the magnitude of the damage to McGrath?
– McGrath has received an injury slightly similar to Lucas’s, but perhaps not as serious. There is probably more stretch in the ligament. The doctor in Switzerland thought that everything would be fine without surgery, but we will do a final evaluation when I return home.
– If you don’t need surgery, when will you come back?
– I think it will take six weeks. It’s a little different, depending on how things go and how they look.
– When will you take them home and when will you be able to see them yourself?
– It’s not that easy during the day. They must first return home, then they must be quarantined for ten days. So we are not sure when we will bring them home and when we will do a final evaluation here at home. We’ll see how the insurance goes. This applies to ambulance transportation through travel insurance, Strauss says.
On Friday night, national team coach Steve Skavik did not respond to VG’s questions regarding the Alpine kite injuries.
Both Braathen and Lie McGrath, who were born in 2000, have achieved several important results this season. Lie McGrath took the first podium of his career at the World Cup when he finished second in the giant slalom race at Alta Badia, while Braathen started the season by winning at Sölden, his first World Cup victory in his career.
Freestyle skier Birk Ruud, also born in 2000, won the World Cup race in Kreischberg, Austria at Big Air on Friday night. Ruud went to high school with Braathen and sent a hello to his friend after the race.
– Lucas is a good friend and we have known each other for a long time. It’s incredibly sad, but I have to motivate him the best I can. He’s a completely crude guy, Birk Ruud said at a news conference Friday night.
Braathen even finished sixth in Friday’s giant slalom race. On the last gate, however, the Norwegian struggled in a compression and was knocked down.
The 20-year-old was severely twisted and was lying in the target area and was carried out on a stretcher from the target area.
Aleksander Aamodt Kilde started in the starting number after Braathen. Kilde made it to the finish line to lead, but the joy quickly passed after he saw Braathen lying on the stretcher.
– It’s very good. You reach the goal and I don’t notice it at first. Then I turn around and see him lying on a gurney. It was an anticlimax, Kilde told the TV 2 dealer.
