The world’s best Alpine skier was nearly taken out by a drone camera in the middle of a slalom run Tuesday night.
Marcel Hirscher, the four-time reigning World Cup overall champion, was about 10 seconds into his second run of a night slalom in Madonna di Campiglio, Italy, when the camera crashed to the snow behind him, between the Austrian and the previous gate.
“This is horrible,” Hirscher said, according to The Associated Press, adding more later in a German-language blog post. “This can never happen again. This can be a serious injury.”
Hirscher appeared unfazed and finished his run, taking the lead with one skier left -- first-run leader Henrik Kristoffersen of Norway. Kristoffersen went on to win the race.
Wednesday Update: The International Ski Federation has banned drone cameras from further use.
