The Associated Press

Kitzbühel, Austria • A high-tech air bag meant to improve safety in ski racing was presented by the International Ski Federation and the manufacturer on Thursday, two years before its planned introduction at the 2014 Sochi Olympics in Russia.

The D-air system inflates air bags under the race suit in case of a crash, helping to protect the skier’s back, chest, shoulders and collar bones.

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"Crashes may always happen, but this could help racers walk away from it without serious injuries," FIS race director Günter Hujara said.

A year ago, the ski federation teamed up with an Italian company, Dainese, which has already developed a similar protection system for motor racing.

Several World Cup skiers, including former overall champion Aksel Lund Svindal, Norway’s Kjetil Jansrud and Italy’s Werner Heel, have been assisting in the development of the system.

They’ve been wearing a special back protector containing a computer chip that collects various data about speed and movement of the body during racing.

"It’s just a normal back protector," Svindal said. "We have been using them every downhill this year except in America. Now they have a lot of data they can start working with."

According to Alessandro Bellati, the Dainese engineer who is coordinating the project, the data are needed to determine the exact moment that the air bags should inflate in case of a crash.

"They will open within 40 milliseconds and reach maximum pressure within 100 milliseconds," Bellati said. "But we still need a lot of data to tune the system. We are still in the first phase."

Swiss ski star Cuche to retire after season

Swiss ski star Didier Cuche will retire after the season despite being in contention for a record-equaling fifth World Cup downhill title.

The unexpected announcement Thursday by the 37-year-old skier came at a news conference leading to Saturday’s classic race on the Streif course in Kitzbühel, Austria, where he is a four-time winner.

"Kitzbühel represents something for me and I decided to make my decision here," Cuche said. "It’s not a decision that I took last night or today."

Cuche captured the downhill title four of the past five seasons.

"I’m in top form and I can still aspire to win races. It’s in this condition that I wish to retire from the World Cup," he said.

Cuche became the oldest men’s world champion in 2009 when he won the super-G in Val d’Isère, France, at 34. He was a silver medalist in the super-G at the 1998 Nagano Games, but he never won an Olympic gold medal.