Reason for injury

Kilde admits after horror crash: “It was a mistake!”

Aleksander Aamodt Kilde admits a mistake after his heavy crash.

(Bild: Christof Birbaumer, Christian Leopold / Neumayr / ServusTV)

After his violent crash in Wengen in January, Aleksander Aamodt Kilde admits he made a mistake. The Norwegian ski star simply underestimated the physical strain.

"In Wengen, I was already ill beforehand. That was a mistake on my part. I didn't have any strength left at the bottom in Wengen and then I missed the line and crashed in the wrong place," he explained on "Sport und Talk aus dem Hangar-7" on ServusTV.

"... then it's just too much"
The days before, the "speed elk" had still been on the podium. "Then I believed that it would work. With this program, with so many races and with such a stressful program in the evening, it's difficult to do all the things," said the 31-year-old. "Then when you get to the longest downhill in the world, it's just too much."

Heavy crash shortly before the finish
The Olympic and World Championship medal winner crashed heavily in the Wengen downhill on 13 January shortly before the finish and crashed into the net. The friend of Mikaela Shiffrin suffered deep cuts to his lower leg and an injury to his left shoulder - with a lot of blood loss. "Then life is turned upside down, but you have to try and look positively to the future," says Kilde about his current difficult time. "I can reach with my toes, but I can't move them upwards. The big toe is hanging like a jelly fish."

(Bild: Birbaumer Christof)

Ski star would like to see changes
Kilde would like to see more than just a change to the race program. "In Wengen we had three races in a row and then this evening program. I think the evening program is a lot for the top 10 athletes and when you're still on the podium, you just have to sit there for an hour or two and can't regenerate so well for the next day. That's also a big issue and maybe that needs to be changed in addition to the race program."