Biathlon world champion loses orientation in the Alps - rescuers find her the next day at 2000 meters
Created: 09/29/2022, 09:35 am
By: Marius Epp
Gabriela Soukalova recorded a video for Instagram three days before her horror night.
© Instagram/AFP/Berit Roald
That just went well again: The former top biathlete Gabriela Soukalova got lost in the Alps and triggered a large-scale operation.
Livigno - The traces of the two-time biathlon world champion Gabriela Soukalova were lost from Wednesday to Thursday in the Italian Alps near Livigno.
The Czech left for mountain bike training on Wednesday.
When she did not return in the evening, a rescue team searched for her - initially in vain, but luckily with success the next morning.
As the local portal
La Provincia di Sondrio
reports, Soukalova was on vacation with her partner in Livigno, the ski resort is not far from the Swiss border.
During her bike trip, she apparently completely lost her bearings and gave her loved ones hours of worry.
Biathlon world champion Soukalova gets lost in the Alps - and triggers a large-scale operation
According to the report, the 32-year-old was able to call for help with a rough description of the area by cell phone in the late afternoon.
Shortly thereafter, her device's battery failed and she was left to her own devices.
The mobile phone could then no longer be located by the emergency services, which made the search difficult.
On Thursday morning, a person near Lago di Livigno heard calls for help that seemed to come from the opposite ridge.
This allowed the search area to be narrowed down and Soukalova was finally found by the fire brigade on the mountain - at an altitude of 2270 meters.
Ex-biathlon star Soukalova involuntarily spends night on the mountain
Spending the night so high up is by no means harmless: at night the temperatures in Livigno (1816 meters high) fall below zero these days.
Although Soukalova is used to the cold as a biathlete, it may not have been a pleasant experience.
The successful athlete ended her active career in 2019 - like a German ex-biathlete recently.
Soukalova is a two-time biathlon world champion and has won three Olympic medals.
Fans are more likely to know her by her name Koukalova, which she wore during her marriage from 2016 to 2021.
You can find more winter sports news on our winter sports resort page.
(epp)
