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8 • Touchline • Issue 17
fter seven years of waiting, the Russian resort of
Sochi between the Black Sea and the Caucasus
mountains became the centre of global media
attention with the start of the 22nd Winter
Olympic Games in February.
Despite dire reports about possible terrorist activity, a clamp
down on demonstrators and the sceptics who claimed as with
Vancouver four years ago that a potential lack of snow could
have hampered some events, Sochi was a well organised and
successful games staged within a stunning setting.
Out of organisers’ hands
As with all major events of this nature, meticulous preparation
is required to ensure their success. However, one factor will
always be out of the hands of the organisers: sporting injury.
The simple fact remains these games will have a slew of
events which are by their nature inherently dangerous. As
recently as 2012 Canadian World Cup skiing cross-country
specialist Nic Zoricic and World Championship-winning
freestyle skier Sarah Burke both lost their lives on the slopes.
A
INSURERS DO NOT
SHY AWAY FROM
DANGEROUS
SPORTS
BY PAUL THOMAS
OLYMPIC ADRENALINE:
OUT OF ORGANISER’S HANDS
At a World Cup race on March 10 in Grindelward in Switzerland,
Zoricic crashed head-first into netting lining the course after
going wide and falling on the final jump. He suffered severe
skull and brain trauma and was airlifted to a hospital in
Interlaken where he was later pronounced dead. Earlier that
year, Burke was seriously injured while training on the Park
City Mountain Resort Eagle superpipe in Utah and later died
in hospital. Four years previously, Austria’s Mathias Lanzinger
lost control in a men’s World Cup downhill event at Kvitfjell,
Norway and had to have his left leg amputated below the knee.