Kildow Is Injured in Training Crash

A series of training-run crashes Monday on a beefed-up women’s downhill skiing course apparently knocked several top racers, including American Lindsey Kildow, out of Wednesday’s competition.

Kildow, a 21-year-old rising star from Vail, Colo., and a gold-medal contender in two Alpine races -- downhill and combined -- crashed midway through her run, her legs splayed so awkwardly when she landed that one veteran Austrian ski racer turned her head from the video replay monitor.

Kildow ended up on her back, in obvious pain, and was airlifted to a Turin hospital.

Remarkably, though, Kildow did not suffer major injuries.

“The X-rays are normal,” Ed Ryan, medical director for the United States Olympic Committee, said in a statement. “The decision now is how long she stays in the hospital.”

Ryan said Kildow was complaining of back pain, “which is normal,” and may have suffered a head injury. Tests revealed a minor head trauma but no neurological problems.

Kildow was expected to be held overnight for observation.

Her chances of racing Wednesday have yet to be determined. At the 1998 Games, Austrian star Hermann Maier won the gold medal in super-giant slalom three days after a horrendous spill in the downhill.

Bill Sterrett, a Vail orthopedic surgeon who is serving as team doctor for the U.S. ski team, said Kildow was very sore and very lucky.

“I think we’ll know a lot more tomorrow, but right now it’s nothing but good news,” he said.

Sterrett said Kildow was alert, walking and asking about friends and family.

He said it was too soon to say whether she could compete Wednesday or in other Olympic events.

“I’ve known Lindsey for about 10 years,” Sterrett said. “She’s a pretty tough young lady. Almost nothing surprises me about her. Until we tell her she absolutely can’t race, she’s not going to rule it out.”

Kildow was one of four skiers who took hard spills at the San Sicario course.

Carole Montillet-Carles of France, the defending Olympic downhill champion, went down first and suffered unspecified injuries. She was taken to Sestriere Policlinic for tests.

Austrian Elisabeth Goergl, skiing two positions later, was next to crash, although she skied off the course under her own power.

Canadian Allison Forsyth also required an airlift to Turin after crashing. It was reported that she tore ligaments in the left knee.

Kildow’s crash, though, produced the most gasps and the replay was shown only once on the jumbo video screen. (Montillet-Carles’ crash was shown several times.)

Former U.S. skier Carrie Sheinberg, who witnessed Kildow’s spill, called it “hideous” and “disgusting.”

Austrian Alexandra Meissnitzer, skiing just before Kildow, initially thought the injury was serious.

“I feel sorry for her,” Meissnitzer said, “because I don’t think her knee is fine.”

Last year, several top World Cup skiers deemed the women’s course too easy and petitioned to have the downhill moved to the men’s venue at Sestriere. Instead, organizers toughened the course.

Julia Mancuso, Kildow’s 21-year-old U.S. rival, said the course was not to blame for the injuries.

“No, the course runs fine,” she said. “It’s not fast.”

Sheinberg, the former U.S. Olympian, said weather changes had produced what she called “aggressive snow” which gets “grippy” in sections.

Mancuso, skiing immediately after Kildow and waiting for her run in the start gate, knew her teammate had crashed.

“I just didn’t know how bad or what’s going on,” Mancuso said. “They’re like, ‘It’s not that bad.’ That’s what they tell you always.”

Mancuso said there is little a skier can do when a teammate crashes.

“I’m sort of trained to block it out,” she said. “ ... A lot of the time, they sort of keep us in the dark on top. When there’s always stuff going on, there’s girls being taken by helicopters and there’s just stuff going on all the time and you can’t really think of it.”

Kildow entered these Olympics with high hopes after a tough year off the snow in which she had a public falling out with her father, Alan, a Minneapolis lawyer who helped nurture her skiing career. Kildow and her father have not spoken in more than six months.

Reached Monday in Minneapolis, Alan Kildow was anxiously trying to get updates on his injured daughter. He said he had not planned on being in Italy.

“She made it clear she wanted to do this on her own and I respected that,” he said.

Alan Kildow also said he would “be on a plane this afternoon” if his daughter were injured seriously.

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A tough course made tougher

American Lindsey Kildow and the three other skiers who crashed during training runs Monday were on icy San Sicario Fraiteve, which was ramped up several months ago after complaints from racers that the women’s speed events course was too flat and slow.

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Course enhancements

Five jumps were increased in size by shaving dirt from lead-ins and steepening landings. Shown at right are the upper four jumps that were adjusted.

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San Sicario Fraiteve stats

Women’s downhill, super giant slalom, combined

Downhill

Length of run: 1.9 miles

Start elevation: 8,219 ft.

Finish elevation: 5,676 ft.

Vertical drop: 2,543 ft.

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Super giant slalom

Length of run: 1.6 miles

Start elevation: 7,644 ft.

Finish elevation: 5,676 ft.

Vertical drop: 1,969 ft.

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Combined downhill

Length of run: 1.8 miles

Start elevation: 7,874 ft.

Finish elevation: 5,676 ft.

Vertical drop: 2,198 ft.

Sources: Torino 2006; Via Lattea; Ski Racing Magazine, GoogleEarth.