“The procedure took regarding an hour and a half. The anterior cruciate ligament, the medial meniscus and the cartilage damage were surgically repaired,” Fink is quoted as saying in an ÖSV broadcast. The Carinthian all-rounder Schwarz sustained the injuries on Thursday during the downhill run in Bormio.
The ÖSV announced that the knee will now be relieved of the strain with crutches for several weeks. The rehabilitation lasting several months should begin on Friday evening with light physiotherapeutic measures. After his slalom victory in Madonna di Campiglio, Schwarz came to Bormio as the overall leader in the World Cup, and an exciting duel for the big crystal ball with the Swiss Odermatt was announced. Schwarz had pursued the plan to contest as many races of the season as possible.
“Shit” for everyone involved
It was “shit” for everyone involved, for Atomic, the ÖSV, but of course it was the “toughest” for Schwarz, said Atomic racing director Christian Höflehner to the APA – Austria Press Agency during the women’s races in Lienz. “He was in such good shape. Discussing whether he should have driven that or not is pointless. He wanted to drive himself, he drove really well, he might have finished top five or on the podium.”
Schwarz was very careful regarding whether he was physically ready, and he was ready. “That just happens. It’s tragic and brutally bitter,” said Höflehner. “There’s never a good time for something like this. But if everything goes well, he’ll be back next year. He’ll definitely come back strong. It’ll probably take a while, we’ll have the patience.”
“He would do it the same once more”
ÖSV head coach Marko Pfeifer described it on Friday as “extremely unfortunate for him (Schwarz, note) and for us. Unfortunately, it’s part of the game.” The injury was of course discussed with the team on Thursday evening, but then the focus was placed on the Super-G. That was what Schwarz meant. Pfeifer: “Blacky said before he drove away, boys, step on the gas and hit it.” In the morning, a similar message came from the Carinthian via WhatsApp. “Everyone sticks together, I think that’s a very nice thing,” said Pfeifer.
Pfeifer doesn’t see that Schwarz has taken on too much of himself by competing in all the World Cup races until Thursday. “We are now at the beginning of the season, it is December. If it were the end of February/beginning of March, then one might speculate. But he was physically in top condition. We analyzed it yesterday. He also said he would do it the same once more,” said Pfeifer on ORF TV. By the way, Hannes Reichelt from Salzburg, who resigned in March 2021, suffered a torn cruciate ligament in a downhill fall in the same place exactly on the day four years before.
