Cristina Pabst

Cristina Pabst arrived at the 1968 Winter Olympics as an up and coming luger from the German speaking valleys of the Sud-Tirol which traditionally many of Italy’s Winter Olympics. She left via ambulance after a horrific crash on the second run of the Olympic championships. During that second run, she went off the track at the fifteenth and last corner whilst travelling at about 90 kilometres per hour. Having lost control of the sled, she was thrown numerous times on the track, rolling violently on the ice and losing consciousness. The consequences were very serious: a fracture of the right elbow, various fractures concerning the right side of the pelvis, fracture and dislocation of the hip and cuts and abrasions to the face. These injuries put an end to her career in luge.

After a two-day hospital stay at the La Tronche military hospital near Grenoble, Cristina was transferred to Torino to the Maria Adelaide hospital where she remained for over 4 months, until 26 June 1968, thus allowing her family to visit her.