Dramatic scenes as Norweigan medal hope airlifted after terrifying high-speed crash: Olympics Daily

Star Olympian Fredrik Moeller has suffered a terrifying high-speed crash during training ahead of the 2026 Winter Olympics.

The Norwegian skier was left needing urgent medical attention after losing control at high speed on the notorious Stelvio slope in Bormi, The Sun reports.

Panic unfolded as Moeller came down heavily, sending shockwaves through the skiing world.

Team officials and medics rushed to his aid within moments amid fears the incident could be serious.

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A rescue helicopter was quickly called to the scene as concerned teammates looked on.

Moeller was airlifted off the mountain and taken to hospital for further checks.

The official opening training session for Alpine skiing events was called off.

The Norwegian team was unable to provide an official update about his condition on Thursday morning (AEDT), however, Norwegian Alpine Team media contact Espen Graff has told media outlets Moeller is being treated in a nearby hospital in Sondalo.

“Fredrik dislocated his left shoulder. The treatment has gone well, and the health team will now begin further rehabilitation. He did not suffer any other injuries in the fall,” Norwegian team doctor Trond Floberghagen said.

He was originally expected to take part in a second official training session on Thursday night, however, it appears likely he will now miss the entire Games.

“The timeline for the downhill is unfortunately a bit too tight,” Floberghagen said.

However, the medical expert has not ruled Moeller out from competing in the Super-G downhill event on Wednesday.

Competition at the Milano Cortina 2026 Games has already begun with the opening ceremony taking place on Friday night (AEDT).

High-speed disciplines are considered among the most dangerous in sport, with skiers reaching motorway speeds on unforgiving terrain.

Moeller has been one of Norway’s brightest talents and a key figure in their Olympic plans.

This is the second time that he’s been involved in a high profile accident after the World Cup downhill crash at Val Gardena in 2025.

Winter Olympics icon Lindsey Vonn recently suffered a serious knee injury when she crashed at high speed during the women’s World Cup downhill in Crans-Montana, Switzerland.

— with The Sun

HOW THE WINTER OLYMPICS BEGAN

Two days before the opening ceremony, the sports programme at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics began on Wednesday with the curling mixed doubles.

In the chic resort of Cortina d’Ampezzo, away from the glamour of the alpine skiing and the media circus surrounding injured American ski star Lindsey Vonn, eight teams entered the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium and quietly unpacked their equipment in front of several hundred spectators.

The games had barely begun when a brief power cut blacked out the scoreboards for the matchups between Sweden and South Korea, Great Britain and Norway, Canada and the Czech Republic and Estonia and Switzerland.

The commentator joked “someone had gone to put money in the meter” after the screens went off inside the arena – possibly caused by heavy snow.

“Not a great start for the organisers. Play has been paused because the screens have gone off,” he said.

“The lights on the ice are still mostly on but everything else is pretty much gone, certainly for us in the broadcast area – but lights are flicking back into the monitors.

“Somebody ran off to go and put some money in the meter or something. With a little luck, we’ll get going again.

“It is a little darker than it should be. It’s fair to say not everything was ready. It snowed heavily today which hasn’t helped matters.”

It’s understood coverage in the US cut to adverts due to the stoppage in play.

British pair Bruce Mouat and Jen Dodds, who were runners-up at last year’s world championships and considered medal hopefulshere, began their quest with an 8-6 win against the Norwegians.

There were also victories for Sweden, Canada and Estonia.

Italy, the reigning Olympic champions in the mixed doubles, will begin their bid for gold against South Korea on Thursday.

The opening ceremony on Friday will be primarily held at the San Siro football stadium in Milan, with three other venues hostingthe traditional athletes parade, reflecting the sprawling nature of this year’s Olympics.

The Games are using a host of existing venues, meaning they stretch for 350 kilometres (217 miles) across northern Italy from Cortina -- one of the world’s iconic skiing locations -- to Milan, with other “clusters” spread through the Alps.

US singer Mariah Carey and Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli are among the performers for the ceremony.

BIG DOUBTS OVER SUPERSTAR

Unstoppable Mikaela Shiffrin and Swiss master Marco Odermatt headline the alpine skiing at the Winter Olympics, but doubts remain over comeback queen Lindsey Vonn, arguably one of the biggest names at the Milan-Cortina Games.

In a bombshell reveal after touching down in the Dolomites for her fifth Olympics, Vonn revealed that she had in fact ruptured her anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL, in an ill-timed crash in last weekend’sCrans-Montana World Cup downhill.

Vonn, who retired because of persistent pain and underwent a partial knee replacement in April 2024 before making an astonishing comeback, insisted however that her dream of competing at the Olympics was “not over”.

“My knee is not swollen and with the help of a knee brace, I am confident that I can compete (in the downhill race) onSunday,” the 41-year-old said.

“I know what my chances were before the crash and I know my chances aren’t the same as it stands today.

“But I know there’s still a chance, and as long as there’s a chance I will try,” said Vonn, who has a record 12 World Cup victories on the Cortina course.

She is on a tight schedule. The first of three training runs for the women’s Olympic downhill in Cortina d’Ampezzo was slatedfor Thursday but cancelled because of snow.

The two others are scheduled on February 6-7, with racers obliged to race at least one of those to be able to compete in Sunday’smedal event.

- Shiffrin on fire -

Vonn’s teammate Shiffrin heads for the Cortina hills as the most successful skier of all time, male or female.

The 30-year-old has racked up an incredible 108 victories on the World Cup, including seven wins in eight slalom races this season.

Her latest victory came in the Czech Republic and was enough to see her become the first athlete on the circuit to win morethan eight globes in a single event.

Despite taking slalom gold at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi days before her 19th birthday and giant slalom gold in Pyeongchang, Shiffrin will be on a quest to erase the memories of 2022 Beijing Games where she failed to medal.

“It’s wonderful to be consistent and fast, but every time I ski, I feel like I could be flying off the course at any moment,” she said.

2018 Olympic downhill champion Sofia Goggia and the returning Federica Brignone will be flying the flag for Italy in Cortina.

- Odermatt, the Swiss leader -

Odermatt is also a dominant force in the men’s events, the 28-year-old holding a massive lead atop the overall World Cup standings.

“The Olympic Games are always challenging, it’s just the medals that count,” Odermatt said.

“There are always some surprises. I’m already Olympic champion so that helps me going into these Games but for sure I’m going to try to take another medal.” Odermatt will seek to lead a strong-looking Swiss team including fellow reigning world champions Loic Meillard and Franjo von Allmen to more glory.

Odermatt, Meillard and Von Allmen took last year’s world championships in Saalbach by storm.

Of the 11 titles up for grabs, Switzerland won five, netting 13 of the 33 medals on offer in a dominant display.

Odermatt won giant slalom gold in Beijing four years ago and will be odds on to be pushing for more podium finishes in Italy.

He already eight World Cup wins to his name this season, showcasing his allrounder capability with three wins apiece in thegiant slalom and downhill, and two more in the super-G.

His competitiveness shone through in Kitzbuehel when he cried at his second place in the downhill behind Italian Giovanni Franzoni.

“I feel stupid that I can be that disappointed about second place, here in Kitzbuehel but we all knew that today, victory was my big goal, my big dream,” Odermatt said. “I didn’t make it.” Franzoni is joined in the Italian team by veteran DominikParis, the 2019 super-G world champion who has seven career victories on Bormio’s Stelvio piste.

“A medal would be great, to be so confident before the Olympics is pretty cool,” said Franzoni of his wins in not only Kitzbuehel but in Wengen.

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