In brief

• A Polish Nordic combined athlete crashed during training on the Planica hill in Slovenia on Friday, 30 October, and was flown by helicopter to a hospital in Ljubljana.
• The Polish Ski Association confirmed the athlete is Polish but has not released his name; sporting director Kamil Fundanicz said his condition is stable and his life is not in danger.
• Team coach Szczepan Kupczak said the skier's health is good despite the injury and called the incident one of the situations a coach most wants to avoid.
• The athlete is expected to stay in hospital until at least Monday, when decisions on further treatment are due.

Crash on the Planica hill

A training crash on the Planica jumping hill on Friday, 30 October, sent a Polish athlete to hospital. Slovenian rescue services said a helicopter was used to transport the injured man to the hospital in Ljubljana (Polak miał wypadek na skoczni w Planicy! Został przetransportowany śmigłowcem do szpitala - PolsatSport.pl – polsatsport.pl). Polish media later established that the casualty was a Nordic combined competitor from Poland (Groźny wypadek Polaka na skoczni w Planicy. PZN przekazuje szczegóły – Przegląd Sportowy) (Niebezpieczny wypadek na skoczni w Planicy. PZN ujawnił nowe informacje – sport.fakt.pl).

Federation confirms nationality, withholds name

The Polish Ski Association, through its sporting director Kamil Fundanicz, confirmed the nationality of the athlete but declined to name him. He said the skier had undergone thorough examinations after the fall, his condition was stable and his life was not in danger (Polacy trenowali w Planicy. PZN potwierdza groźny upadek, kadrowicz w szpitalu – Interia Sport). Further details on his injuries were not given, and he is expected to remain in hospital until at least Monday, when decisions on his further treatment are due.

Coach: condition good despite injury

The coach of the Polish combined team, Szczepan Kupczak, who was with the athlete over the weekend, said the skier was in good health despite the injury (Chwila grozy w Planicy. Polak runął na zeskok. Teraz przemówił jego trener – SportoweFakty). He described the incident as one of the situations a coach most wants to avoid. Kupczak remains at the scene and is in regular contact with the doctors and the Polish federation.

Pre-season training in Slovenia

The Polish team had been training in Planica ahead of the coming winter season, which is when the athletes use the pre-season period to fine-tune their preparation. Reports from the Polish federation indicate that the athlete's name will not be released for the time being.