Matthias Lanzinger
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| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Men’s alpine skiing | ||
Representing  Austria
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| European Championships | ||
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2007 Europa Cup | overall |
| Paralympic Games | ||
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2014 Sochi | Super-G, standing |
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2014 Sochi | Combined, standing |
| IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships | ||
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2013 La Molina | Super combined, standing |
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2015 Panorama | Downhill, standing |
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2015 Panorama | Super-G, standing |
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2013 La Molina | Downhill, standing |
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2015 Panorama | Giant slalom, standing |
Matthias Lanzinger (born December 9, 1980) is an Austrian retired alpine skier from Abtenau, Salzburg.
In 2000 he was the Junior World Champion, and took the overall Europa Cup title in 2004. He finished third in the Super-G World Cup at Beaver Creek on December 1, 2005. This was his only podium in the World Cup. Following his accident and leg amputation, he became a Paralympian.
On Sunday March 2, 2008 during a World Cup Super-G run at Kvitfjell in Norway, Lanzinger crashed into a gate, tumbling down the steep slope. A contributing factor to the severity of the injury was the fact that the release mechanism on one of his ski bindings did not trigger immediately. The reason therefore was that his leg, already broken, did not provide the resistance needed to open the mechanism. He sustained an open fracture of one leg. He was first transported off the slope using a sled, then flown using a private helicopter (quickly refitted to allow his transport) first to Lillehammer hospital where surgery was performed, then on to Ullevål University Hospital in Oslo by ambulance helicopter for a new surgery due to problems with the blood circulation in the leg. On Tuesday morning, after the third surgery, the second one for restoring blood circulation to his left leg, the doctors announced that it would have to be amputated below the knee. After surgery by Dr. Thomas Hölzenbein, his condition was described as "stable", and it was affirmed that Lanzinger "could have died" without the amputation because the leg was virtually dead below the knee. The treatment of Lanzinger's injury during the first hours has been criticized, and some comments have held that a better attention to the blood circulation in an early time could have saved Lanzinger's leg. The security of the slope in Kvitfjell has also been criticized. The Austrian ski federation has stated that they will continue to support Lanzinger both personally and publicly.
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