Street Battered in Crash During World Cup Race

Picabo Street, the top U.S. Olympic hope in the downhill, suffered bruises, an injured neck and a slight concussion during a crash Saturday in Are, Sweden.

Street fell on the fastest and most dangerous part of the Olympia course after a ski binding released while she was traveling at an estimated 75 mph.

She lay on the snow unconscious for approximately two minutes, but was able to walk after a few minutes. Later, she was taken by helicopter to a hospital at Ostersund for tests.

“She’s a little dizzy,” said Herwig Demschar, the U.S. women’s coach. “But for me, the most important thing is that the legs are OK because it’s always a mental problem if you have the first crash after an injury, if you’re OK or not.”

Street came back last month after being sidelined for more than a year after knee surgery.

Demschar said Street will return as planned with the team to the United States today and will be back on skis again Saturday in Japan. The women’s Olympic downhill is scheduled for Feb. 14.

Katja Seizinger won the final women’s World Cup downhill before the Olympics, clocking 1 minute 4.92 seconds over a course shortened because of strong winds and snow.

*

Austria’s Andreas Schifferer posted his fourth World Cup downhill triumph of the season, establishing himself as the gold-medal favorite for the Olympics.

Schifferer had the fastest time on the icy upper slope of the Kandahar course in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, and finished in 1 minute 54.82 seconds.

*

Sergei Fedorov of the Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings will join Russia’s Olympic hockey team, replacing injured Alexei Kovalev of the New York Rangers.

Fedorov called Alexander Steblin, president of the Russian Ice Hockey Federation, and offered to be a substitute.

Meanwhile, Canadian Olympic hockey officials expect to know by Tuesday whether right wing Trevor Linden of the Vancouver Canucks, who sprained his knee last week after being hit by Phoenix’s Rick Tocchet, will be able to play at Nagano. If he can’t go, Montreal right wing Mark Recchi will replace him.

Detroit center Steve Yzerman, who sprained his knee and suffered a charley horse Wednesday--also after being hit by Tocchet--sat out the Red Wings’ game against Pittsburgh Saturday but is expected to recover in time to play for Canada in the Olympics.

*

Former Alpine skiers Betsy Shaw of East Dorset, Vt., and Sondra Van Ert of Ketchum, Idaho, 32-year-old “old ladies in a kid’s sport,” earned places on the first U.S. Olympic snowboarding team in the final qualifying race at Mammoth Mountain.

Adam Hostetter of Tahoe City, Calif., and former World Cup champion Mike Jacoby of Hood River, Ore., clinched Olympic berths by finishing third and fourth in the men’s giant slalom.

*

American Michael Dionne is planning an appeal of a three-month ban imposed by the international bobsleigh and toboggan federation after the stimulant ephedrine showed up in his system during a competition in November.

Sandy Caligiore, a spokesman for the U.S. bobsled and luge teams, said he believed the banned substance Dionne took was an over-the-counter medication. Dionne, of Alpharetta, Ga., is a push-athlete in the bobsled event.

Meanwhile, Brian Shimer, the top U.S. bobsledder, will compete in the Olympics despite a drug test that found high levels of testosterone, according to sources on the U.S. team.

Shimer, a four-time Olympian and the driver of the leading U.S. sleds, escaped punishment when a second test by the Olympic lab in Montreal showed normal testosterone levels.

*

Aerialist Kip Griffin of Bedford, N.H., shook off the disappointment of failing to make the U.S. Olympic team by winning the final World Cup event of his career, at Breckenridge, Colo. Jacqui Cooper of Australia won the women’s aerials.

Times Staff Writer Helene Elliott contributed to this story.