A Russian skier who was hospitalised after a serious accident at the Sochi Winter Olympic Games will never walk again, it emerged today.
Maria Komissarova, 23, is in a German clinic after suffering a fractured spine in a crash during a training run for the ski cross event in Sochi.
The Russian Freestyle Federation confirmed today that Miss Komissarova is permanently paralysed, citing her doctors in Germany.
The freestyle skier fractured her 12th dorsal vertebrae in her lower-middle back but has sworn to walk again.
‘I do not feel my body lower than my belly button,' Miss Kommissarova wrote in Instagram last month.
'But I am strong and I know that some day I will definitely be on my feet again.’
‘Due to the severity of the injury, the functions of the spinal canal are not regenerating,’ the Russian Freestyle Federation cited specialists at the German clinic as saying.
‘In the opinion of the specialists, Maria will be able to move around independently using special equipment,’ the statement said.
Komissarova is due to spend another 10 weeks in the German clinic learning to adapt to her condition and will then undergo a long period of treatment and rehabilitation, the federation said.
Ski-cross is one of the most frenetic and risky events of the Games, where four skiers race together down a slope filled with jumps, obstacles and banked corners.
During the main competition, six skiers race against each other, with the top three advancing through the heats to the final.
Normally during practice runs, skiers are on the course themselves, or traveling down the mountain in loosely packed bunches.
International Ski Federation spokeswoman Jenny Wiedeke said the accident occurred on a series of jumps near the top of the course and that Komissarova fell while exiting the third jump.
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