French alpine skier David Poisson, who died earlier this week while training for an upcoming World Cup event, is said to have caught an edge in a training run, hitting a safety net and then a tree.
The French Ski Federation has issued a statement saying,
“According to the information currently available to the French Ski Federation, David Poisson reportedly tumbled heavily after losing a ski during the shared training session with other nations that took place yesterday in Nakiska, Canada.”
The statement goes on to say that, “David Poisson reportedly hit a tree after passing through the safety nets.”
Also Read: Death of Alpine Skier Could Be Linked To Safety Netting
Officials with France’s national ski team say that there is nothing wrong with the safety measures at Nakiska Ski Area despite the death of Poisson.
Fabien Saguez, the general manager of the French team was at Nakiska on Tuesday to inspect the run where Poisson died and called it a wide, beautiful course.
“These are training conditions that we know very well. The French team has been training here since 1992 with all the safety conditions in place that you would expect at a training course of this calibre.”
Poisson specialized in the speed events taking home a bronze medal in the World Championships. He also competed in two Winter Olympics – at Vancouver in 2010 where he finished seventh in the downhill – and at Sochi in 2014.