Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway won the classic Val Gardena downhill Saturday for the first time in a World Cup race that may be better remembered because a safety airbag inflated in a crash involving the Olympic champion Matthias Mayer of Austria.
Mayer lost control on the Saslong course in Italy and spun around, flying down the hill backward in midair. Before he landed on his right side, the airbag vest under his race suit inflated and softened his landing. After receiving medical attention on the slope, he was airlifted to a hospital in Bolzano.
The Austrian team said Mayer had fractured a vertebra and would probably be sidelined for a month.