Day 3Forsyth Crashes, Olympic's Over
Canadian skier Allison Forsyth suffered a torn knee ligament in a crash during Monday's Olympic downhill training runs at San Sicario, Italy. Forsyth, from Nanaimo, B.C., lost control of her left ski and grabbed her left knee as she skidded across the course into the protective fencing.
Canadian officials told CBC Sports that she tore an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), a potentially career-threatening injury that takes upward of eight months to fully recover from. Forsyth, 27, was taken down the hill on a toboggan and later airlifted by helicopter to a hospital in nearby Sestriere, where an MRI confirmed the injury. She is expected to return to Canada for surgery.
"It's the Olympics," Canadian skier Emily Brydon said. "People are trying to take more chances."
Defending champion Carole Montillet-Carles of France and American contender Lindsey Kildow sustained injuries in crashes too. A fourth skier, Austrian Elisabeth Goergl, also wiped out but was unhurt.
"There's just a lot of rolls, anything can happen," American skier Julia Mancuso said of the Fraiteve course, which officials re-designed because skiers complained it wasn't challenging enough.
"You can come off a jump, catch an edge and be a little unlucky."
Forsyth, a veteran of the Canadian alpine team, is a slalom specialist, but chose to compete in the Olympic downhill as well. She won a bronze medal in the giant slalom at the 2003 world championships.
Montillet-Carles, 32, crashed following a jump. She smashed into the fencing, landed on her back and slammed head-first into the snow. Details of her condition were not immediately available, but she appeared conscious when transported to the clinic located at the athletes' village in Sestriere.
Kildow, 21, was the eighth skier to follow Montillet-Carles and lost control as she turned around a gate on a flat stretch. When Kildow's left ski slid out, her right knee buckled and she went airborne for 15 feet before landing hard on her back and slamming her head. Writhing in pain as medical personnel rushed to her aid, she later was flown by helicopter to a hospital in Turin, where U.S. Alpine physician revealed she suffered a severely bruised left hip.
"She has no other significant injuries and has not ruled out competing in these Games," he said. I've known her for 10 years, and she's a very tough young lady."
Kleibrink falls to Norberg
Anette Norberg of Sweden defeated Canada's Shannon Kleibrink 7-5 Monday afternoon in the first draw of the women's curling tournament at the Torino Olympics. Norberg, the reigning world champion, broke a 4-4 tie in the eighth end by drawing for two with the hammer.
Kleibrink got one back in the ninth, nailing a hit-and-stick with the final rock to cut Norberg's lead to 6-5. But Kleibrink surrendered the hammer and couldn't set up a steal in the tenth. With her final shot of the match, Kleibrink came up short on an attempt to freeze her stone against Norberg's near the bottom of the house. That gave Norberg another point and made the Swede's last rock unnecessary.
Women's play resumes with two draws on Tuesday. Canada will take on the U.S. in the morning and Russia in the evening.
The Good News of the Day:Gushue Sweeps Germany Under the Rug
Brad Gushue of St. John's began his quest for Canada's first Olympic gold medal in men's curling with a 10-5 win in nine ends over Germany's Andy Kapp on Monday evening.
Gushue's rink, which has Russ Howard throwing second stones, got off to a shaky start, giving up a steal of two in the first end. The teams then traded two-point ends before Gushue responded with three points in the fourth to take a 5-4 lead. Gushue stole one in each of the next three ends before Kapp got a point back in the seventh to cut Gushue's lead to 8-5. After Gushue scored two in the ninth, Kapp, who curled 50 per cent to Gushue's 81 per cent, conceded the match. Monday's match was the first of the Torino Games for both Gushue and Kapp. The men's tournament began Monday morning but both skips had a first-draw bye. Draw three goes Tuesday afternoon in Pinerolo, Italy, with Gushue taking on Sweden's Peja Lindholm.
Later,
Kenaz
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