Aerial skiing star Alisa Camplin will undergo allograft surgery tomorrow to replace the torn anterior cruciate graft in her right knee.

The Salt Lake 2002 gold medallist will receive a patella tendon from a donor cadaver, and is convinced she will recover in time to defend her Olympic crown.

After considering various surgical options, Camplin’s medical team has decided that a patella tendon allograft offers the best prospects for rapid recovery and rehabilitation that the 30-year-old skier needs.

“Because it will be a patella tendon allograft, with bone on either end of the tendon, it is possible to get good fixation to the joint, so the rehabilitation can be pushed without having to worry about graft disruption,” said Camplin’s orthopaedic surgeon Julian Feller.

“Given a quick recovery from the surgery, Alisa should be able to start rehabilitation in a couple of weeks, and then be jumping at the end of December or early January.”

“There is a risk involved, however, because she will be jumping before the graft is at its full strength.”

Camplin said she was relieved a decision had been made.

“I was disappointed at first when we couldn’t seem to find a synthetic tendon because it seemed that was the fastest option for recovery.”

“But we’ve found a cadaver patella tendon that it seems will give me just as much of a chance so I am excited now.”

“Every day has been changing. At first we just had to determine whether I should have an operation, then which sort was the best to have, and then we spent 48 hours looking world-wide for synthetic possibilities, so it’s been a busy few days.”

“But now we have made the decision I’m really itching to make a start.”

“I absolutely think I’m going to be at the Olympics. I can’t believe my competitive drive to get this done now. It feels like the biggest competition of my life. I had always planned on going to the Games to defend my gold medal but I never realized how important that was to me until the opportunity to compete looked like it could be taken away.”

“Now we just have to work on having a very expedited recovery, pushing the process but also being prudent at the same time and keeping an eye on how it’s going every day.”

The opening ceremony of the Torino 2006 Games is 121 days away, with the qualification round of the aerial skiing competition a further nine days into the Olympic program.

Courtesy OWI/Sportcom