Kildow May Try to Race

Two days after a harrowing training-crash run that left most wondering whether she would ski again this season, American Lindsey Kildow may race in the women’s downhill today at San Sicario Fraiteve.

Bill Marolt, chief executive for the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Assn., said Kildow would be a “game-time decision” for the downhill but did confirm that she had been entered in the race.

“The thing I like about her is that her head’s still in it,” Marolt said. “She doesn’t want her name taken off the board.”

If Kildow can ski, it will be the most impressive comeback from a crash since Austrian hero Hermann Maier returned from a violent downhill accident at Nagano in 1998 to win gold in the super-giant slalom three days later.

Kildow took a nasty spill during Monday’s second training run, a day after she had finished second in the first training run.

Veteran ski observers and ski racers who witnessed the crash feared the worst for Kildow, but the 21-year-old from Vail, Colo., escaped with only minor injuries. She was airlifted to a Turin hospital.

Kildow is a rising star on the U.S. ski team and had been considered a medal contender in downhill and Friday’s combined event. She is the only skier to have won two women’s World Cup downhill events this season.

Jesse Hunt, U.S. Alpine director, said Kildow had been released from the hospital and was headed to San Sicario Fraiteve.

“She’s pretty banged up from her crash yesterday but there is a possibility she will be able to run, and we’re going to leave the door open for that possibility,” Hunt said.

Hunt said Kildow was experiencing pain in her lower back. Asked if Kildow were emotionally ready to race, Hunt said, “Those are the kind of things we are going to evaluate in the morning.”

If she skis, Kildow will face stiff competition in the downhill from Austrian Michaela Dorfmeister, seeking to cap a brilliant career with Olympic gold; Croatian Janica Kostelic, a three-time gold medal winner at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games, and American teammate Julia Mancuso.

Kostelic, however, sat out Tuesday’s final training run because of a rising pulse rate, a Croatian team official said. It was not immediately known whether Kostelic would be able to race.