Snowboard: Fracture of the ankle bone and two torn ligaments by Benjamin Karl

Austria’s snowboarding ace Benjamin Karl has to fear for his Olympic start after a heavy fall in training in Carezza. The 32-year-old from Lower Austria contracted a fracture of the jumping leg and two ligament tears in the right ankle joint on Saturday. This devastating diagnosis was made this afternoon at Hochrum Sanatorium.

This means that the four-time world champion will not only be missing for the three World Cup competitions in December, but also for the home races in Lackenhof am Ötscher (5th/6th place). January 2018) and Bad Gastein (12th/13th January 2018). January) missed. In addition, it is doubtful whether Karl will be able to finish the Olympic qualifying phase on 21 March. Whether I get an Olympic chance, even if I can’t compete in a race until the end of the qualification, is up to the people responsible for the line-up,”said Karl.

The two-time Olympic medal winner fell on the last day of the preparation training for the World Cup start, after a metal part of the shoe broke in the free run and subsequently also the front binding.”The fact that this injury is happening at the moment hurts tremendously,”Karl stated. My training times were above average compared to previous years,”added Karl.

He refrained from surgery and wants to have the injury treated conservatively “I have been fitted with a splint that allows forwards and backwards movement. We will treat the injuries with physiotherapies and shock waves. “Anyway, I’ll do my utmost to get fit as soon as possible.”