Matthias Lanzinger

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Medal record
Matthias Lanzinger

Medal record
Men’s alpine skiing
European Championships
Gold	2007 Europa Cup	overall

Matthias Lanzinger (born December 9, 1980) is an Austrian former Alpine skier.

In 2000 he was the Junior World Champion. Winning the European cup last season, he finished third in the Super-G World Cup at Beaver Creek on December 1, 2005. This was his only podium in the World Cup.

[edit] Leg amputation after fall

On Sunday March 2, 2008 during a World Cup Super-G run at Kvitfjell in Norway, Lanzinger crashed into a gate, tumbling down the steep slope. A contributing factor to the severity of the injury was the fact that the release mechanism on one of his ski binding did not trigger immediately. The reason herefore was that his leg, already broken, did not provide the resistance needed to open the mechanism. ^[1]^[2] He sustained an open fracture of one leg, and was flown by private helicopter first to Lillehammer hospital where surgery was performed, then on to Ullevål University Hospital in Oslo by ambulance helicopter for a new surgery due to problems with the blood circulation in the leg. On Tuesday morning, after the third surgery, the second one for restoring blood circulation to his left leg, the doctors announced that it would have to be amputated below the knee.^[3] After surgery by Dr. Thomas Hölzenbein, his condition was described as "stable", and it was affirmed that Lanzinger "could have died" without the amputation because the leg was virtually dead below the knee. The treatment of Lanzingers injury during the first hours has been critiziced,^[4] and some comments have held that a better attention to the blood circulation in an early time could have saved Lanzinger's leg. The security of the slope in Kvitfjell has also been criticized,^[5] also before this accident happened.^{[citation needed]} The Austrian ski federation has stated that they will continue to support Lanzinger both personally and publicly.^[6]