Canada skier Zoricic crashes to death in World Cup race

GENEVA - Agence France-Presse

Flowers and a portrait are seen on the site where Zoricic was deadly injured. REUTERS photo

Canada’s Nick Zoricic has died competing in a ski cross World Cup event in Grindelwald on March 10, organizers announced.

The 29-year-old crashed into safety netting after the final jump just before the finish on the Grindelwald slope.

Lying motionless he was attended to by doctors before being airlifted by Air Glacier to a hospital in Interlaken in the canton of Berne.

“Despite reanimation Zoricic died as a result of severe neurotrauma,” organizers Swiss-Ski reported in a statement.

He was pronounced dead at around midday.

Local police are to hold an investigation into the events surrounding the fatal accident.

In a joint statmeent the International Ski Federation and the Swiss Ski Federation expressed “their sincere condolences to the family, to friends and to Team Canada”.

The hours following the tragedy were “sad”, Christoph Egger, president of the organizing committee, said.

“We barely spoke, it was a very sad, very quiet time.”

Born in Sarajevo, Zoricic emigrated to Canada with his family as a child and began a career as a downhill skiier, competing on the World Cup circuit before switching to ski-cross.

He had two ski-cross podium finishes and came in fifth in the 2011 overall standings.

After Saturday’s tragedy organizers canceled the rest of the day’s competition and also called off yesterday’s World Cup final.