Crash victim Holmlund in coma after surgery

Swedish ski cross champion Anna Holmlund has been put in a medically induced coma after sustaining a head injury during training, Sweden’s ski cross federation reported yesterday. The 2014 Olympic bronze medallist suffered from bleeding in the brain after a crash before this week’s World Cup competition in Innichen in northern Italy. The two-time World Cup winner was unconscious when paramedics air-lifted her by helicopter to a hospital in Bolzano where she underwent surgery. “It is not possible to speak about the future developments as the situation is still unstable,” the Swedish Ski Federation said in a statement on Monday. The federation’s ski cross director Joar Batelson told AFP on Tuesday that the 29-year-old was still in a worrying condition. But he said that although Holmlund is still unconscious, her condition has become more stable overnight since the accident. “She is sedated so her body can rest,” Batelson told AFP. Holmlund is placed second in the overall World Cup standings behind Canada’s Marielle Thompson. — AFP