MOSCOW, January 11 (R-Sport) – Following a horrific crash, the life of triple Olympic gold medal-winning ski jumper Thomas Morgenstern is no longer in danger, doctors were quoted as saying Saturday by Austrian newspaper Salzburger Nachrichten.
Morgenstern crashed heavily in training on Friday, rolling over several times as he hurtled down the slope at high speed. It was his second crash in the space of a month, after he escaped with a broken finger from an accident in December.
The Austrian, 27, is intensive care with “severe injuries to his head and lungs” but there is “no danger to life,” the newspaper reported, citing Dr. Josef Obrist at the hospital where Morgenstern is being treated.
He will be under observation for the next two days to watch for signs of a brain hemorrhage, the newspaper reported.
Morgenstern won the individual large hill event at the Turin 2006 Olympics, as well as the team event with Austria, and won the team event again at Vancouver 2010. He also has eight world championship gold medals to his name in ski jumping.
Morgenstern is also a triple world champion in ski flying, where the hills used are far larger than Olympic size, to allow athletes to jump greater distances. His crash occurred during warm-up for a ski flying World Cup event in Bad Mitterndorf near Salzburg.
