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Reuters 18y

UPDATE 2-Alpine skiing-Dorfmeister narrowly misses piste worker

(Adds Cavagnoud history)

By Mark Ledsom

ST MORITZ, Switzerland, Jan 22 - Michaela
Dorfmeister came within centimetres of an horrific collision
with a course worker during the downhill section of a World Cup
super-combined race on Sunday.

The 32-year-old Austrian, who won both Friday's super-G and
Saturday's downhill races here, was completing a sharp right
turn midway down the Corviglia piste when the worker skied
directly into her path.

After swerving to avoid the crash, the visibly shaken
Dorfmeister managed to finish her run in an impressive fifth
place -- crossing the line 0.83 seconds behind first-run leader
Anja Paerson of Sweden.

"I still cannot believe what happened," Dorfmeister told
Reuters. "Even while it was happening, I didn't really realise
how bad it was. It was only when I got into the finish area that
my legs started to shake and I couldn't keep hold of my
emotions.

"I was really lucky that I saw him in time, and that he saw
me. I'm still really shocked but the important thing is that I'm
alive and healthy."

St Moritz press officer Claudio Duschletta confirmed that
the worker had been one of the volunteers helping to maintain
the piste and said race organisers were still investigating the
cause of the incident.

"We will of course be looking into how something like this
could happen," Duschletta told Reuters.

The near-miss is likely to revive discussions over on-piste
safety in professional Alpine skiing following the 2001 fatal
accident involving French super-G world champion Regine
Cavagnoud.

Cavagnoud was killed after colliding with German team coach
Markus Anwander during a training run in Austria.

French Alpine ski team chief Xavier Fournier and starter
David Fine were given suspended jail sentences for their role in
the crash.

Anwander, who was in a coma for almost two weeks, was
initially ruled to be 50 percent to blame for the accident but
last month an Innsbruck court cleared him of any wrongdoing.

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