Unfortunately, Olympian Ryan Cochran-Siegle crashed in Friday's downhill at Kitzbuehel, Austria, sustaining a minor cervical spine (neck) fracture. He is otherwise OK, thankfully. That said, he will sit out the remainder of the weekend and his return to competition is TBD.

Cochran Siegle—who had won the first training run and has been the top American downhiller all season long with multiple podiums in super-Gs and downhills (and was ranked third in the downhill standings heading into the weekend)—ended up on his tails below the Hausbergkante jump, went down on his hip on the traverse, and went through the netting. He was up and walking around after the crash, but airlifted by helicopter (per protocol, as there is no other way to get back on the track) and was taken to the hospital for further evaluation. He had fast splits up top and was in the lead for a good portion of the race prior to his fall.

It may not seem possible, but 2021 was only Cochran-Siegle’s second year on the Streif. Last year, he DNFed (but was OK). He has yet to make it to the finish line at the Streif and will have to be reunited next year, as he will sit out the remainder of the weekend.

At the team meeting on Friday night, Ryan told his teammates, "Skiing is skiing...just go out there and have fun with it. Push yourselves. I definitely want to see you guys sending it tomorrow."

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Ryan Cochran-Siegle (@rc.s)