Sunday, January 08, 2006

The Olympic campaign of Australian alpine skier Luke Deane appears to be over following an accident in a World Cup giant slalom race in Adelboden, Switzerland.

Deane fell on the first run of the giant slalom event, then slid down the hill and crashed into the next gate of the course, hyper-extending his right knee and suffering meniscus damage. The knee is the same one that he injured in training in a gym Liechtenstein in January 2004.

The 23-year-old NSW skier was operated on in Bern, Switzerland, on Sunday, and the meniscus tear repaired.

Although the full extent of the injury is not yet clear, Deane will be out of action for four to six weeks.

It is just six weeks until the giant slalom in Torino on February 20.

Team-mate Brad Wall finished in 45th place in the Adelboden event, which was won by Austrian Benjamin Raich. Wall's result gives him the last of three top 80 per cent of field results that qualify him for selection to the Games team.




Courtesty of OWI/Sportcom