Polish luge seriously injured on the Beijing Olympic track

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In the Yanqing Sliding Center, a Polish toboggan runner fell badly during a training run

Photo:

Peng Ziyang / imago images / Xinhua

A Polish luge sustained serious injuries during a training race on the track for the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing.

Mateusz Sochowicz suffered a fracture of the left lower leg and also sustained cuts and bruises, as the Polish Luge Association announced.

During training, the toboggan hit a barrier that should have been open when a sled is on the track, according to a message from the Polish Luge Sports Association. It was not known on Monday why the lock was in the way. As reported by the Sport Information Service, the accident was apparently the result of a misunderstanding: According to this, Sochowicz is said to have carried out his training run from the slightly lower women's start. After two turns, the ice rink converges with the men's start, but here a kind of switch is supposed to have blocked the way. This should have been open during a run from the women's start.

Sochowicz told the Polish web portal Onet: "All of a sudden I saw a closed gate," and then he positioned himself on the sledge as if on a ski run. "I was hoping that I could jump over the barrier at this speed, but it went too fast, I didn't have time," said the 25-year-old. "If I hadn't reacted, there might have been a tragedy." Sochowicz criticized the track staff in the interview. “The rail team was very incompetent,” he said, “they didn't know what to do. Someone came to me and tried to touch my (exposed) bone with a glove. "

Extensive training runs are currently taking place in the Sliding Center in Yanqing, north-west of Beijing, which was built especially for the Winter Games, and the German tobogganists around Natalie Geisenberger and Felix Loch are also on site.

The new World Cup season will also open there on November 20 and 21.

The Winter Games will take place from February 4th to 20th.

Sochowicz still hopes that he can start when he gets a wild card from the world federation and can concentrate on recovery, he said.

But there is a bigger problem: “I don't know if I'll ever be able to drive this route.

I'd be afraid of what's waiting for me around the next corner, ”said Sochowicz.

hba / dpa / sid / Reuters