Switzerland suffered the third fall in a month by the Olympic champion while training for the World Cup and the 2026 Milan-Cortina Games.
Published December 11, 2025
Two-time Olympic champion Michel Gysin was airlifted from the course after a hard crash during a World Cup downhill practice run.
The 32-year-old Swiss skier crashed into a safety barrier on a cloudy Thursday morning in St. Moritz at more than 110km/h during practice for a downhill run scheduled for Friday and Saturday, followed by a super-G scheduled for Sunday.
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One of Gisin’s skis appeared to grab the edge as he approached a high-speed left turn, causing him to lose control and go straight through the first safety net before being stopped by the second safety net.
There was no immediate report of any injury. Television footage showed Gysin conscious and lying on the side of the track with scratches and cuts to his face being examined by doctors.
Gisin becomes the third reigning Olympic champion from the Swiss Women’s Alpine Ski Team, after Lara Gut-Behrami and Colin Suter, who fell during practice last month.
Gisin, who won gold in the alpine combined at the past two Winter Olympics, is now the veteran leader of the Swiss women’s speed team after an injury on the 2022 Beijing Olympic champion team.
Gut-Behrami fell during practice at Copper Mountain, Colorado, USA last month and tore the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his left knee, ending his Olympic season.
Suter has been out of skis for about a month after sustaining calf, knee and foot injuries in a training accident in St. Moritz last month.
At the last Winter Games in China, Suter won the downhill, Gut-Behrami won the super-G, Ghisin won the bronze medal and Ghisin won the final title in the individual combined. Swiss ski athletes have won seven medals at the Olympics.
Gysin crashed on Thursday when American star Lindsey Vonn was already on the track for a practice run. Vonn was suspended while Gysin received medical help and then resumed driving.
Vonn set the fastest time in Wednesday’s opening practice.
The Milan-Cortina Olympic Games will open on February 6th with a women’s alpine ski race on the famous Cortina d’Ampezzo hill.
The death of Italian skier Matteo Franzoso in a training accident in Chile has heightened concerns about how to limit risks in the predominantly high-speed sport ahead of September’s World Cup.
The debate continued until the start of the Olympic ski season a month later, with prominent American skier Mikaela Shiffrin stating: “We often train in situations where there are too many variables to control, but sometimes we have to make decisions. Isn’t this unreasonably dangerous?”
