Swiss annoyed

Drone trouble in Kitz: “Shouldn’t happen!”

A TV drone came very close to Stefan Rogentin in Kitzbühel.(Bild: GEPA)

What's the drone doing there? That's probably what Stefan Rogentin, who opened the legendary Kitzbühel downhill on the Streif on Saturday, thought shortly before the start. The race organizers have now apologized to the Swiss.

A drone, which is supposed to provide spectacular TV images, has once again caused a stir in the Ski World Cup: because the drone came a little too close to Stefan Rogentin shortly before the start, he simply pushed it away with his ski pole.

Here is the scene in the video:

Rogentin, who is actually a big fan of the unusual drone images, was obviously less than thrilled. The third-placed racer in Friday's super-G complained that he had felt disturbed during the concentration phase.

Apology from the race organizers
In any case, the race organizers acknowledge the mistake. "We apologize to Stefan Rogentin, that shouldn't happen," says Mario Mittermayer-Weinhandl, the race director in Kitzbühel, at the team captains meeting.

Scary moments in Adelboden and Madonna
Not the first drone headlines in the current ski season: at the giant slalom in Adelboden two weeks ago, a camera drone fell from the sky - directly behind the German Jonas Stockinger. Memories of 2015 came flooding back. A TV drone crashed during the second run of the slalom in Madonna di Campiglio. Directly behind Austria's ski hero Marcel Hirscher.