Germany's Matthias Mayer lies on the snow after crashing during an alpine ski, men's World Cup downhill, in Val Gardena, Italy, Saturday, Dec. 19, 2015. (Photo / AP)
Germany's Matthias Mayer lies on the snow after crashing during an alpine ski, men's World Cup downhill, in Val Gardena, Italy, Saturday, Dec. 19, 2015. (Photo / AP)
A radical safety airbag has made its debut in world class skiing, helping save Olympic champion Matthias Mayer of Austria.
Mayer was competing in Italy, in the Val Gardnea Downhill, when he spun out of control ending up backwards in mid-flight. Prior to landing, the airbag under his racing suitinflated and cushioned the landing blow. Mayer was airlifted to hospital and still suffered a fractured vertebra.
"A crash can never be something favourable," International Ski Federation (FIS) technical expert Gunter Hujara said. "(But) maybe we have seen here he was saved from a spine injury today."
This is the first time an air bag has inflated during a World Cup race. Mayer had trouble breathing but this was not due to the safety system, which has taken many years of research and development by an Italian firm.
"It's always tough to know what the injury would be like otherwise," Canadian skier Erik Guay was reported as saying on NBC. "But it's been quite a few years in development and it's great that it works when it's supposed to."
The bag protects the shoulder, neck, back and chest with plans for it to extend to the knees and hips. The manufacturer collected information from skiers by lodging special chips in their back protectors that record speed, angular rotation, acceleration and other information.
A motorcycle equivalent inflates when the body leaves the bike with a forward rotation but the loss of control for various skiers is harder to pinpoint.
"It proved the air bag has an important place in speed skiing," Austrian winter sports federation director Hans Pum said.
