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Jean-Claude Killy slams the safety of modern ski equipment

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Speaking within days of the 2006 Winter Olympics, IOC member Jean-Claude Killy has slammed the risk of injury from modern ski equipment used by racers.
"You can't send a 20 year-old kid to have his knee ligaments redone three times in a row in three years. These repetitive injuries are not acceptable" he said.

Interviewed by Swiss newspaper Le Temps, Killy hit out at carving skis and elevated binding systems: "Currently it's like skiing on rails and it's almost impossible to deviate from them. At the slightest mistake, the knee lets go," he explained.

Jean-Claude Killy, who was raised in Val d'Isere but now lives in Switzerland, was the winner of three gold medals at the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble.
In the interview, Killy also raises some apprehensions about the popularity of ski racing, and the possibility of logistical problems in Turin if weather causes delays to the big ski events.

[Source: TodayOnline.com]

Any comments on Killy's views?
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David Goldsmith wrote:


Jean-Claude Killy, who was raised in Val d'Isere but now lives in Switzerland

Any comments?


I assume he doesn't like the French tax regime?
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Apart from returning to straight skis I am not sure what could be done to encourage more skidding/less carving, but I am no equipment expert. They limit sidecut on GS upward already don't they?

I like his point about longer races, the downhill runs do seem to take no time at all. But all athletes cover distances faster than they used to - look at Olympic swimmers today compared to what went on 50 years ago! Apart from moving the start gates further up the mountain, what can you do? If you make the courses more twisty-turny they become more like Super-G.
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In my ignorance, I'd thought modern skis/technique probably put less stress on your joints. The lack of rotational movement in a carved turn made me think this. OTOH, skis with big sidecuts can hook up in a way a straighter ski doesn't causing scary things to happen if you get in the back seat so I suppose he may have a point.
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I've been at a race this morning - a FIS national junior championship slalom at Courchevel. One knee ligament injury right in front of me. These guys are supercharged, superfit, and as strong as oxes. Thigh muscles like some people's chests. They ski to the absolute limit, and their technique/equipment/skill/strength 'spits' them out of each turn in the search for acceleration. It's hardly surprising that the joints are occasionally not strong enough to handle the huge extra pressure if something goes wrong. They ratchet up the DIN to handle race pressures so the skis don't always release when they might. The course cuts up, and as you get further down the start list to the younger, racers with less FIS points, they are really finding it a battle just to stay in the race. Out of 130 or so starters, only 48 actually finished both runs.

Arno, that's exactly what happened to the young lad with the knee injury. Got caught in the back seat, tried everything to stay in the course, and paid the price.
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Arno, I think they are safer for normal skiers. Certainly ski teachers have had markedly less knee problems since the carving ski came out, but at max?? I don't know myself for sure, but am not about to argue with my childhood hero.
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It's a very interesting ppoint being made but I wonder how much is to do with the danger of modern equipemnt or how much is due to the safety of it!! Let me explain.

When everybody skied in leather boots and cable bindings, the injury "de jour" was a broken ankle. With the advent of plastic boots, the injury became a broken Tib and Fib. Now, modern bindings have got rid of those injuries and the next weakest point is the knee. No doubt, once that has been sorted, the weakness will be the hip etc.

The next problem is that skiers today are trained so that their bodies are best suited to getting the most out of their sport. The mussle development and therefore the power available is far greater than in days gone by. It is known that in many sports, this knowledge of how to do sports specific training is leading to greater stresses on the body when in competition.

I am sure that carving skis are contributing to injuries but I think it is a grave over simplification to just blame the equipment.
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SimonN, that makes sense. What I was getting at really, when I mentioned the combination of "technique/equipment/skill/strength".
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PG wrote:
SimonN, that makes sense. What I was getting at really, when I mentioned the combination of "technique/equipment/skill/strength".
PG
I am probably guilty of speed reading your post in my eagerness to make my point! I think we are in violent agreement!

However, it is s simple fact the knees are now the biggest concern and this is due to the equipment being better at handling other falls. I think it is about time bindings could handle this. If there is a movement that leads to the knee going, surely there must be a way of detecting it and making the binding release! I guess not, or it would be on the market Sad
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SimonN, the trouble is they occasionally make such extreme movements to fight to stay in the course that an early release can lead to injury as well.

I missed the top part of this sequence today, but prior to the first shot, the racer had straddled a gate, fallen, somehow managed to stand up, then found himself skiing backwards (see first photo; didn't stand up for long though). He then slid down a good 100 metres of the course til he finally stopped - with both skis still firmly attached...





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PG, it would seem Anja Paerson doesn't have any trouble with this, as linked to by DG. Tough to tell an aspiring racer to hold back, but maybe knowing your body's limits should also be part of the training? I seem to remember something way back about Alan Jones kept on blowing up cars because he drove them too hard, whereas Villeneuve and Prost (? - I don't really know what I'm talking about here) were kinder on them so were more likely to finish a race.
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She could be the exception to the rule though. Many injuries happen during the probationary junior period - to know your limits you have to find them out the hard way. If you're very lucky, you get away with it. And I don't think even the training the Austrians are putting their squad through, despite all the technology involved, has really stemmed the flow of injuries. Think back to the pre-season, it seemed that a different team member was out of action with a big problem - often a knee ligament injury - every week. Some articles: here, here, here and here...
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I think the problem may be that knee ligament injuries are often suffered when the skier is well in the back seat. In this position the main force on the binding is upward in the toepiece which seems to be the one release direction that manufacturers haven't got really sorted
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
GrahamN, Prost was very sympathetic to his cars. Villeneuve on the other hand was a total hooligan who used to disregard wheels falling off etc! Great driver, entertaining to watch, ended up killing himself. RIP
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the ice perv, Jaques Villeneuve is dead? How, when. Little Angel
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SMALLZOOKEEPER, Gilles Villeneuve is dead.
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... but not because of ski equipment.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
David Goldsmith, richmond, the ice perv, I've been ill for days now, almost feels like i had been abducted, glad for Jaques. Little Angel
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Ah yes I forgot there was/is more than one Villeneuve! The Alan Jones reference put me in an 80s frame of mind. I think it was he who used to knock GV's wheels off!
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SMALLZOOKEEPER wrote:
the ice perv, Jaques Villeneuve is dead? How, when. Little Angel

Quote:
Gilles Villeneuve is dead.

Quote:
... but not because of ski equipment

But can you tell me the common link between Jaques Villeneuve and the British ski holiday industry? And its not just Jaques love of skiing, a sport he is rather good at!
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SimonN, Fish? Little Angel
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SMALLZOOKEEPER, Rubbish ... He Dared to Dive ... Little Angel
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SMALLZOOKEEPER wrote:
SimonN, Fish? Little Angel
Puzzled

OK. So as not to keep you all in suspense (like you really were.NOT)

Jaques was managed for many years by one of the founders of Neilson Ski Holidays (and not a lot of people know that!!!)
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eEvans, Very Happy
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