Lindsey Kildow crashes in training

[DB]

Hearing reports that Lindsey Kildow (US), Carole Montillet (FRA) and Allison Forsyth (CAN) have all crashed out in training. Kildow and Montillet have been flown to hospital and Forsyth is being stretchered down. Kildow and Forsyth looks serious, not sure how serious Montillet is yet.

Source = http://mysnowsports.com/

[ill-advised strategy]

this is all I see at that site:

Olympics: First Women’s Downhill Training Run
OlympicsThe first women’s downhill training session took place today in San Sicario. The run, which a number of the elite racers thought was too easy last year, has been modified to make it more testing for this Olympic event: a technically demanding run with five big jumps...

On the revamped course Michaela Dorfmeister clocked the best time in this first training session ahead of American Kildow and the Swiss Aufdenblatten, and said that she felt it was a course that needed to be “respected.” . Anja Paerson, 4th, seems particularly at ease on this downhill course. Janica Kostelic (13th) said she felt great through her first run, but that "the course was a little tame"…

Chemmy Alcott made one of the slowest starts of the field, 48th fastest to the first split, and despite picking up places over the next two intervals was unable to break into the top thirty, finishing 34th. With two more runs before the race on Wednesday, Chemmy Alcott has time on her side to correct the mistakes made today. Alcott said that her run was slow but that she was not too concerned with it. ..

what gives?

[DB]

Here's a quote from Pete Garwood

Second training run taking place right now. MySnowSports and Racer-Ready journalist Neil McQuoid has phoned in to report on a badly disrupted race, and there's certainly no more talk of a 'tame' course following several crashes already this morning. American star and one of the favourites, Lindsey Kildow has been flown off to hospital after a bad fall which looks to have put her out of the Olympics at the very least. The rest of the season is in doubt with a serious knee injury suspected.

Reigning Olympic champion Carole Montillet fell just before the American and was also taken to hospital - at this time it isn't clear if it is only a precautionary measure.

Just minutes ago a third crash saw Canadian Allison Forsyth pile into the safety netting. The impact looked very bad and the race has been stopped to allow her to be stretchered down.

Swiss Martina Schild currently leads with the best time in front of the three Austrian favourites Goetschl, Meissnitzer and Dorfmeister....

[ill-advised strategy]

holy shit!

[SkiEvil]

From the AP:

SAN SICARIO, Italy (AP) -- American gold medal contender Lindsey Kildow crashed on her downhill training run and was taken down the mountain on a stretcher Monday, moments after defending Olympic champion Carole Montillet-Carles was also carried off following a crash during her run.

The 21-year-old Kildow lost control, went airborne and slammed hard to the course, writhing in pain as medical personnel rushed to her aid. As she reached the bottom of the mountain in a toboggan her legs were splayed and she was sobbing.

The extent of her injuries was not immediately known, and a U.S. Ski Team spokesman and spokeswoman could not be reached for comment.

Kildow won two downhills on the World Cup this year and was ranked No. 2 on the circuit.

Kildow's crash happened just eight skiers after Montillet-Carles of France lost control during a jump midway through her run and crashed into the protective fencing. She landed on her back and her head slammed onto the snow.

Montillet-Carles, 32, appeared to be conscious, though no further details of her condition were immediately available.

[altagirl]

Wow, that sucks.

[schindlerpiste]

From Eurosport:
From EUrosport:

American Lindsey Kildow and defending downhill champion Carole Montillet-Carles of France both crashed heavily in downhill training on Monday. Kildow, who was air lifted to hospital in Turin, twisted her knee and hurt her back while while Montillet did not appear to be seriously hurt.

French coach Maurice Adrait told reporters that Montillet, 32, had been taken to the clinic at the athletes' village in nearby Sestriere where her condition was being assessed.

A source close to the French ski federation said the racer had banged her back and head.

Montillet, yet to win a world cup race this season, landed badly after a jump just 20 seconds into the Fraiteve Olympic course before smashing into the safety netting at top speed.

US medal hopeful Kildow's plight was much worse and it looks like the 23-year-old will miss the Olympics with a back injury.

Losing control on a tricky lip after a series of bumps midway through the course, Kildow did the splits before twisting her knee and back on impact.

After being tended on the piste by doctors, the American, who won two world cup downhills in December, was taken on a stretcher towards an air ambulance.

[Grange]

Just read about this when I got to work. The article made the accident sound horrific. I hope she'll be able to race another day.

[weibo]

Just watched the replays here. Montieller fell first she landed an air twisted looks like a knee then through two fences. Kildow next down coming through some rollers and just lost snow contact, looks like a lower leg injury knee or broken lower leg. Forsyth coming through same area lost contact and looks like a knee. Kildow was the worst to see.


Update Forsyth torn ACL

[gincognito]

Update Forsyth torn ACL

Damn. Just read that on CBC (though they sound a bit alarmist when they talk of potential career threatening and upwards of 8-months rehab). Here's hoping the rest of the Canuck crew ski their asses off for her.

Sick and ashamed and happy (and is this a case of careful what you wish for regarding the difficulty of the course?),
d.

[nick > jesus]

with two world cup downhill wins this season it is realy a shame to see her get hurt now. Too bad about Ralves' run yestur day, he was picked to win by ski racing magazine

[Andy_B]

Make me sick just looking at them.

http://www.nbcolympics.com/alpine/51...tml?qs=pt=espn

[altagirl]

I'm watching curling and they had an update about Kildow, saying she was in the hospital and had back pain which was to be expected, but it sounded like it's not too serious.

That is painful to watch though.

[schindlerpiste]

GOOD NEWS: All x-rays were normal. However, she will remain in the hospital for monitoring, because of concerns regarding her potential head injury.

[Shaggy]

Poor girl.

That has to be a scary experience, to be in such pain, and are being loaded onto a medivac helicopter.

[Superstar Punani]

That's gotta leave a mark....

[XtrPickels]

umm, wasn't there alot of controversy because the womens course was too easy?

[gonzo]

i think she caught the outside edge of her right ski right after punani's pic. not good.

[str8line]

That's gotta leave a mark....

Pfft. Tanner would have pulled that out.

[The AD]

Doing the splits during a downhill run is usually not good.

Why don't they just have the men and women do the exact same course?

[SkiEvil]

Downhill favorites crash in training
Posted: Monday February 13, 2006 7:22AM; Updated: Monday February 13, 2006 12:21PM

SAN SICARIO, Italy (AP) -- American gold medal contender Lindsey Kildow somehow escaped serious injury in a frightening free-fall crash on her downhill training run Monday, moments after defending Olympic champion Carole Montillet-Carles of France was hurt in a spectacular fall.

It was a day of crashes -- four in all, including one that knocked a Canadian skier out of the Olympics with a torn knee ligament -- on a course that was changed after skiers including Kildow complained it was too easy.

Kildow was taken by helicopter to a hospital trauma center in Turin, the games' host city about 50 miles down the Alps.

Kildow has a severely bruised left hip from landing on the course while traveling "about 50 miles an hour," said U.S. Alpine physician Bill Sterett, who is treating her. "She has no other significant injuries and has not ruled out competing in these games. I've known her for 10 years, and she's a very tough young lady."

She will be hospitalized overnight as a precaution, the team doctor said.

The 21-year-old Kildow lost control when her left ski slid out as she began to turn right around a gate on a rolling, relatively flat stretch midway through the run. She immediately went into an awkward split, with her right knee buckling and slamming against the ground.

Her momentum carried her into the air for about 15 feet and she landed on her back, slammed her head and slid to a stop. Kildow was heaving with pain as medical personnel rushed to her aid, her legs splayed awkwardly.

At the bottom of the course, spectators and skiers first saw Kildow on the large video screen, lying on her back. The crash was shown once, and those at the bottom of the course gasped. Renate Goetschl of Austria grabbed her head and turned away.

Kildow won two downhills on the World Cup this year and was ranked No. 2 on the circuit in the event. She finished second fastest during the first training Sunday.

After World Cup events on this hill last season, a chorus of racers complained that the terrain lacked variety. So Olympics organizers altered the landscape and added jumps -- changes that drew praises from Kildow and others after Sunday's downhill training.

"It's not an easy downhill, that's for sure," said reigning World Cup overall champion Anja Paerson of Sweden.

Kildow's crash happened just eight skiers after Montillet-Carles of France lost control during a jump midway through her run and slammed into the protective fencing. She landed on her back and her head hit the snow, but she appeared to be conscious as she was taken to a clinic in nearby Sestriere.

French Ski Federation doctor Marie-Philippe Rousseau-Bianchi said Montillet-Carles, 32, suffered rib and back trauma and minor facial abrasions, but X-rays were negative.

The crashes came on a course made largely of machine-manufactured snow.

Canadian Allison Forsyth's Olympics ended after she crashed and was taken to a Turin hospital, where an MRI showed she had torn a ligament in her left knee, according to a statement by the Canadian team. Elisabeth Goergl of Austria fell but was able to ski down on her own.

"It's the Olympics. People are trying to take more chances," Canada's Emily Brydon said. "It is so rolly up there, you have to be on it all the time. If you relax for a bit, it will catch you."

Martina Schild of Switzerland was the fastest in Monday's run at 1 minute, 55.52 seconds. Goetschl was second at 1:56.28 followed by Austrian Alexandra Meissnitzer at 1:56.42. American Julia Mancuso, who skied right after Kidlow was removed from the slope, was fourth-fastest at 1:56.45.

American medal hopeful Mancuso, who waited near the start box as the next skier scheduled after Kildow, said the course condition was similar to the first training runs on Sunday.

"There's just a lot of rolls. Anything can happen," Mancuso said. "You can come off a jump, catch an edge and be a little unlucky."

Kildow's injury was the latest blow to an already depleted U.S. team. Caroline Lalive's season ended when she injured her left knee in a crash last month and slalom specialist Kristina Koznick has partially torn ligaments in her right knee and could miss her Feb. 22 race.

[InspectorGadget]

^^^ OUCH!!! ^^^

Why don't they just have the men and women do the exact same course?

Because the men's course is (typically) longer, faster and more difficult.

[The AD]

^^^ OUCH!!! ^^^

Because the men's course is (typically) longer, faster and more difficult.

Yeah, I realize that, but that doesn't mean the women are not capable of skiing it. I always hate it in sports when the women's events are dumbed down compared to the men's.

[ski_adk]

Yeah, I realize that, but that doesn't mean the women are not capable of skiing it. I always hate it in sports when the women's events are dumbed down compared to the men's.

Didn't Victoria Jealouse say something though about riding with her boys was great, but that she had to remind herself that she is smaller and weaker and not built as ruggedly as the men are. Kinda like saying that there are limiting biological factors at play.

[crashnburn'd]

Didn't Victoria Jealouse say something though about riding with her boys was great, but that she had to remind herself that she is smaller and weaker and not built as ruggedly as the men are. Kinda like saying that there are limiting biological factors at play.

I thought it was more along the lines of she has to remind herself of her own limits, not that women are more frail and weaker than men. I'm with AD dumbing down sucks.