Lucas Braathen narrowly escaped a potentially career-ending crash during training in Sölden, Austria. The Brazilian-Norwegian ski racer collided with a passerby who was traversing across the training gates. The unidentified person was seemingly oblivious to the fact that they were endangering themselves as well as athletes in training. Braathen is training in Sölden for the FIS Alpine World Cup season opener, which will be held on the resort’s Rettenbach glacier over the coming weekend, October 25-26.
“Very grateful to walk away from that one.
A reminder of how precious these dreams we chase are.
The Olympic dream, the season, and most importantly me and his health, flashed in front of my eyes.”
— Lucas Braathen
Braathen managed to avoid a full-on collision with the unknown skier in yellow with cat-like instincts, pre-empting bodily harm. In the end, only the skis collided, and the ski racer showed the damage to his binding, writing “To get an impression of the impact a collision with those types of forces are. This is pure metal. 5cm and it would have been my leg.”
- Related: Lucas Braathen, the Norwegian-Brazilian Trailblazer Who Hopes to Unleash his Superpower This Season
Unfortunately, this is not an isolated event during training when people duck ropes or ignore closed signs and go through training courses. Recreational skiers should never cross through training gates as athletes in training can approach at serious speeds, posing incredible risk to both themselves as well as the athlete. While training gates may be set up in public areas, teams will pay the resort for the exclusive use of the slope for training, meaning the gates are off limits for anyone else.
