Lindsay Vonn and Bode Miller are likely the only two names that might ring a bell. For all intents and purposes - and because professional skiing languishes near the bottom of the American sports popularity list - I'm assuming they don't, so let me introduce them briefly: Vonn, who just clinched her U.S.-record fourth alpine season world title, and Miller, one of five people to win at least five World Cup events across all five ski disciplines, are generally regarded as the best American skiers of all time.
Now let me introduce you to a young man you certainly do not know. His name is NikZoricic, a once-promising 29-year-old who skied his last race on Saturday. The 6-foot-3, 200-pound Sarajevo-born upstart had a breakthrough season in 2010-2011, logging six top-10 World Cup finishes and mounting his first podium - a silver medal in St. Johann, Austria.
Connoisseurs of professional skiing believe that the young man still hadn't plateaued, that he had more in the tank. And based on the trajectory of his career, which saw him switch from alpine to skicross, Zoricic indeed seemed destined for loftier heights.
"Ski authorities called it a 'freak accident,' much the same way they labeled the fatal accident of Canadian freestyle skier Sarah Burke, who crashed during halfpipe training two months to the day before Zoricic's accident," the Associated Press reported.
And that's not an exaggeration. TheInternational Ski Federation, known by its name in French, F?©d?©rationInternationale de Ski (FIS), has an impeccable track record regarding safety. Meticulous course preparation is done prior to all races, and particularly competent medical staff are arguably the most vigilant of those of any sport.
Additionally, FIS issues an annual exhaustive report on safety, injury treatment and prevention in order to assess whether precautions have been implemented optimally.
Ski mountains are littered with signs that essentially read, "Ski at your own risk," to forewarn the amateur skier about Mother Nature's indiscriminate wrath. So, imagine vrooming down the unkindest of these slopes with reckless abandon while jockeying for position with three other guys who are equally as nuts, utterly disregarding fear and rationality for just over a minute. Sound crazy? It is.
The above description, I believe, aptly characterizes skicross, the discipline in which Zoricic competed. Dubbed "NASCAR on skis," skicross made its debut at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver as a way to liven things up. Its proponents have recognized the tremendous risk inherent in the sport, but, in a sport already awash with rules and regulations, they can do little to increase safety.
Unlike the debate about safety in football, the debate about safety in skiing deals with man vs. nature as opposed to man vs. man. Safety hawks (a bit oxymoronic, I admit) can bicker all they want about implementing tougher regulations, but the efficacy of regulations wanes at a point and eventually reaches zero. Canadian junior hockey can ban fighting, and the NFL can enact stricter rules about hitting, but rules that govern Mother Nature - well, they don't exist.
Far be it from me to suggest that innovations in technology and other forms of protection should not be introduced. But the brutal reality of a sport like skicross is one with which people need to reconcile their feelings about severe injury and death: These things do happen.
In ruminating the perils of skicross, I have discovered no clear-cut solution. Perhaps skicross should not be sanctioned at the Olympics or maybe not even by the FIS. Truthfully, I don't know how I feel about it. But as long as it's around, we need to brace ourselves for more ill-fated stories like Zoricic's.
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Sam Gold is a freshman who has yet to declare a major. He can be reached at Samuel_L.Gold@tufts.edu.
