The Injuries of Cross Country Bronze Medal Winner Petra Majdic More Serious Than Initially Reported

The injuries of Slovene cross country bronze medal winner Petra Majdic are much more serious than reported from Vancouver on February 17, the day of the Cross Country competition. According to the February 18 statement of Matjaz Turel, MD, the team doctor of Slovenia, Petra Majdic has four fractured ribs and a tear of the membrane of the lung. There is a possibility of one more rib being fractured. A perforated pleural cavity and pneumothorax put Majdic effectively out of the competition for these Olympic Games.

The visit to the Olympic clinic on February 17 and X-rays and ultrasound taken just before the final cross country sprint didn't show any serious injuries, however the subsequent visit to the Vancouver hospital after the competition showed in full the extent of her injuries with which she had competed and won the bronze medal. Dr Turel explained that because pneumothorax built up slowly, the first examination, X-rays tests and ultrasound before the final competition couldn't show the true injuries of Majdic.

Pneumothorax or the collapsed lung is the buildup of air or gas in the pleural space, the space between the wall of chest cavity and the lung itself. The collection of gas puts pressure on the lung causing all or the portion of the lung to collapse.

Tension pneumothorax can be life threatening, especially if the buildup of the gas collapses one or both lungs and slows or stops the return of the blood to the heart from the veins causing cardiovascular dysfunction.

Majdic is in stable condition in the Vancouver hospital. She can not be flown home yet due to the seriousness of her injuries. No date for her departure from Vancouver has so far been set.

The serious injuries of Petra Majdic raise again questions of the safety of the Vancouver tracks and courses. The cross country course was not secured with a fence or net that would have prevented the 3-meter fall of Majdic into the ravine. That Majdic made a mistake is not in dispute; however, with safety net in place she wouldn't have suffered the devastating injuries of the fall into the gorge.

Slovenia plans to file safety complaint to VANOC for unsafe conditions of the Cross Country course. The organizers should have understood the safety hazards at the course and put up the barricades.

Majdic injuries are raising the issues of the readiness of VANOC to organize the Olympic Games. These Games could very well be remembered for unpreparedness of Canada to tackle the Olympic task.

Problems ensued early beginning with cost overruns, then the tragic death of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili followed by the opening ceremony embarrassment when four pillars supporting the central flame didn't rise out of the floor, then controversy of the Olympic flame being behind the wired fence and on and on it goes until yet another serious injury of Petra Majdic that could have been prevented.

Petra Majdic made her nation proud. She didn't falter in face of debilitating pain and injuries. She completed her run and won the bronze medal. Her courage and sacrifice remind us of the stuff of legends. She is the quintessential Olympian. Well done, Petra, well done. What can not be said for the organizers of Vancouver Olympic Games.