Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics » Alpine Skiing

Alpine Skiing: Maier happy with decision to quit

Bharath — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 04:19:59 +0000

Kitzbuhel (AFP) – Former Olympic and World Cup champion Hermann Maier insisted on Thursday that he would not go back on his decision to quit skiing despite the upcoming Vancouver Olympic Winter Games.

Maier, 38, won four Olympic medals in his illustrious career (including two golds in 1998), six world championship medals as well as capturing four overall World Cup titles.

“I am very satisfied with my decision. I have retired at a young age, in top shape and I now have the time to do other things in life other than skiing,” said the man nicknamed “Herminator”.

Maier quit in October failing to recover from a knee injury sustained in March 2009.

Alpine Skiing: Canadian skier Simard retires

Bharath — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 04:15:46 +0000

Montréal (AFP) – Genevieve Simard, a two-time Canadian Olympic Alpine skier, retired Wednesday from competitive ski racing after battling the past two seasons to recover from left knee surgery.

Simard, 29, won her only World Cup race at a 2004 super-G in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, and also reached four podiums in the giant slalom during a career that began in 1996.

Simard, the reigning Canadian giant slalom champion, has worked through extensive rehabilitation after surgery to realign her left knee in 2007.

“I can retire now with the conviction that I’ve tried everything I possibly could,” she said.

Simard was a career-best fifth in the World Cup giant slalom standings in 2005 and 2006. She was fifth in the giant slalom at the 2006 Torino Olympic Winter Games and fourth in the super-G at the 2003 world championships.

“I am proud of what I accomplished,” Simard said. “I would have liked to end my career with a medal at the Vancouver Olympics and I will miss the chance to compete in front of Canadians, fans, my friends and family.”

Alpine skiing: Season over for French star Grange

Bharath — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 16:21:28 +0000

Paris (AFP) – Reigning World Cup slalom champion Jean-Baptiste Grange will not compete in the 2010 Winter Olympics after being ruled out for the rest of the season injured, his coach David Chastan told AFP on Tuesday.

The 25-year-old, the top medal hope for the French alpine skiing team in Vancouver in February, injured his right knee during the giant slalom in Beaver Creek, Colorado on Sunday.

“He ruptured his cruciate ligament. That requires surgery,” the technical team coach explained. “He felt a crack on the fifth gate on the first leg in the giant slalom and as a precautionary measure didn’t start the second.”

After Grange’s return from the United States “he was under no illusions, he already had the first diagnosis and we were awaiting the second,” added Chastan after they visited a specialist in Lyon.

Grange has 13 podium finishes to his name, including six World Cup wins, and a bronze medal at the 2007 world championships.

The French team will also be without giant slalom specialist Thomas Fanara, who injured his left knee during a spectacular fall in the second leg of Sunday’s race. Fanara underwent surgery on the same knee two years ago.

“We’re taking this in without panicking, but it’s really unlucky. We’ve lost two important team members for France including the group leader,” said Chastan.

“He (Grange) was in good form as he proved at the beginning of the season with noteably a podium at Levi (Finland).”

Alpine skiing: Kostelic recovers, and sets sights on Vancouver

Bharath — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 12:03:22 +0000

Zagreb (AFP) – Croatian ski champion Ivica Kostelic said his sights are set firmly on the Vancouver Olympic Winter Games after returning to training this weekend following a recent knee injury scare.

Kostelic, a silver medal winner in the supercombined event at the Turin Games in 2006, injured his knee competing in the two-discipline event at the Val d’Isere leg of the World Cup two weeks ago.

Although he hopes to compete at the Sljeme slalom in Croatia on January 6, he said Sunday: “I have to be ready for the Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver.”

He added: “My knee has recovered enough for me to ski gently and I think it will get better day by day. We’ll see if it’s good enough for me to compete at Sljeme.”

Kostelic, whose hugely successful sister Janica is now retired, will be one of the medal contenders for the supercombined at Whistler during the Vancouver Winter Games being held February 12-28.

The 30-year-old from Zagreb finished an impressive fourth overall in the World Cup standings last season and also has a world slalom title, from 2003, to his name.

Alpine Skiing: Maier happy with decision to quit

Bharath — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 22:24:27 +0000

Maier, 38, won four Olympic medals in his illustrious career (including two golds in 1998), six world championship medals as well as capturing four overall World Cup titles.

“I am very satisfied with my decision. I have retired at a young age, in top shape and I now have the time to do other things in life other than skiing,” said the man nicknamed “Herminator”.

Maier quit in October failing to recover from a knee injury sustained in

Alpine skiing: Weirather to miss Olympic Games through injury

Bharath — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 19:16:31 +0000

Cortina d’Ampezzo (AFP) – Liechtenstein skier Tina Weirather snapped cruciate ligaments in Saturday’s downhill at Cortina and will therefore miss the Winter Games in Vancouver next month, her country’s ski federation said.

The 20-year-old Weirather, who suffered similar injuries both in 2007 and 2008, is the daughter of double 1980 Lake Placid Olympic Winter Games champion Hannelore Wenzel and 1982 world downhill champion Harti Weirather.

On Friday, Weirather had managed a career-best seventh spot in the super-G at Cortina.