U.S. Skier Fleischer Injured

U.S. skier Chad Fleischer tore ligaments in his right knee during a World Cup downhill training session Thursday, an accident likely to keep him out of next month’s Salt Lake City Olympics.

Dr. Urs Allensbach said Fleischer tore the anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments in his right knee and had sprained his right elbow.

“From my side I would say the Olympics are not possible for him,” Allensbach said. “I would say he can’t ski anymore this season.”

Fleischer, 30, from Vail, Colo., caught a ski coming out of a small tunnel midway down the Lauberhorn course--the longest on the World Cup circuit at 14,616 feet--and careened into safety netting.

Training for the weekend race was interrupted for about 20 minutes after the accident. Fleischer was given a pain killer and taken by helicopter to a hospital in Interlaken for an MRI.

“Even before I examined him, Chad said he didn’t think he would be needing his race suit anymore this season,” Allensbach said. “He was in pain, he was disappointed by the accident and a little bit psychologically shocked.”

U.S. Coach Dale Stephens said if the swelling in the knee subsided enough, Fleischer likely fly would home Saturday to undergo surgery.

While it is possible to ski with a brace wrapped around a knee with a torn ACL, Allensbach said a person could not compete with a torn ACL and MCL.

“But that is for his doctors and an orthopedic surgeon to decide,” Allensbach said.

Stephens said he doubted Fleischer could ski in the Olympics, even with a brace.