Gernot Reinstadler

Gernot Reinstadler (24 August 1970 – 19 January 1991) was an Austrian ski racer. He was regarded as among the most promising young talents of the Austrian downhill team of the early 1990s.

During training for the Lauberhorn race, while entering the finish S (German: Ziel-S), Reinstadler lost control and crashed into safety nets at full speed, where one of his skis became trapped. Reinstadler suffered a pelvic fracture and severe internal injuries as his organs bled out onto the slope.

He died later the same night at a hospital in Interlaken, even after undergoing several blood transfusions.

Following Reinstadler's death, the 1991 Lauberhorn race was canceled. One of the results of this incident was increased safety for future generations because the holes in the nets were shrunk so the ski tips could not get stuck in them anymore and cause such rapid deceleration. This was the cause of Reinstadler's pelvis fracture.