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Cavagnoud's condition remains critical
Updated: Tuesday October 30, 2001 1:35 PM INNSBRUCK, Austria (AP) -- Defending world super-G skiing champion Regine Cavagnoud suffered serious brain damage during her training accident on an Austrian glacier, a doctor said Tuesday. "On the basis of checks we made today it has turned out that her condition is worse" than doctors expected, said Dr. Wolfgang Koller, the head of the trauma intensive care unit at the Innsbruck University Clinic. Cavagnoud, 31, remained in critical condition Tuesday, one day after colliding with a German trainer who crossed her path on the slope. "We have received the confirmation that she likely suffered serious brain damage," he told The Associated Press by telephone. Asked whether the damage was irreparable, the doctor said, "We cannot yet judge the full impact, this will be possible sometime tomorrow." Cavagnoud was heavily sedated and on a respirator, Koller said. With the equipment in use, the skier's condition was being kept stable, he said. In addition to brain damage, Cavagnoud suffered serious skull, head and internal injuries, as well as facial fractures. Doctors performed emergency surgery Monday on several parts of her body. Both Cavagnoud and the trainer, Markus Anwander, were rushed by helicopter from the Pitztal glacier to the hospital in Innsbruck after the crash. Anwander was also on a respirator Tuesday, but was not injured quite as badly as Cavagnoud. German and French ski officials said Tuesday the accident was caused by communication problems between their teams. Preliminary investigation showed the coach may have been responsible for the accident, said Rudolf Koll, spokesman for the Austrian prosecutor's office. "He arrived on the track and was the cause of what happened," Koll said. Earlier in the day, German Ski Federation officials said there was no joint radio frequency which would have enabled the two teams to be in direct contact. "Unfortunate circumstances added up here," said Wolfgang Maier, the chief trainer of the German women's team. Cavagnoud, a veteran of the French national team, is the defending World Cup champion in the Super-G and was third last season in the overall cup standings. A strong overall skier, she has been competitive in downhill, Super-G and giant slalom, and finished third in Saturday's season-opening giant slalom. She won her first World Cup race in her 10th year on the World
Cup circuit when she triumphed in a downhill in January 1999 at the
Italian resort of Cortina d'Ampezzo, breaking a 17-year drought by
French women in the speed discipline.
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