Russia's glamorous Olympic skier Maria Komissarova will never walk again, it emerged today

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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.

Paralysed: Freestyle skiier Maria Komissarova, 23, posted on her Instagram page that she has no feeling from the waist down after a visit from Russian president Vladimir Putin

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.

 

Putin visits paralysed Olympic ski-cross star in hospital

Tragic accident: Russian freestyle skiing pin-up girl Maria Komissarova, 23, is paralysed from the waist down after a training accident in Sochi

Raunchy: Prior to the Winter Olympics, freestyle skiier Maria Komissarova was one of a number of Russian athletes who posed in sexy outfits to show off their femininity

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.

Off the snow: Komissarova won't be skiing for a while after a serious training accident in Sochi last Saturday

Russian president Vladimir Putin stopped by following the operation to give his athlete his best wishes in person.
Komissarova, who won silver in a World Cup medal in ski cross in 2012, was the face of Russian Freestyle Skiing leading up to Sochi.
She is ranked 33rd in the current World Cup standings and recovered from a leg injury last year to qualify for the Olympics.
Russian Fresstyle Ski Federation spokesman Mikhail Verzeba said the operation was successful.
‘When our doctor discusses everything with the hospital medics, we are going to issue a statement and post it on our site,’ he said.
At the same event, Canadian skicross racer Nik Zoricic was killed after crashing near the final jump of a heat in the men's race.