European Report: Maier comes full circle; Canada aims high for 2010

European Report: Maier comes full circle; Canada aims high for 2010{mosimage}Despite some second-guessing, it appears Hermann Maier will race this weekend in Adelboden, Switzerland, to defend his lead in the overall standings.

Maier has been practicing this week to hone his form in the gates, where he’s been struggling all season. In five GS starts this season, he’s scored points in three, with his season-best a seventh at Park City, Utah. He’s fared worse in slalom, failing to qualify for the second in run at both Chamonix, France, and Kitzbuehel, Austria.

But the chance to return to Adelboden as the overall World Cup leader appears to be too appealing.

“It feels sensational to be racing again and still have reserves,” Maier told the AFP. “I have improved in the slalom and I want to make a good race at Adelboden.”

It was January last year that “the Herminator” returned to racing some 508 days after his near-fatal motorcycle crash. In his first race back after the crash, Maier raced in the Adelboden giant slalom and just missed qualifying for the second run.

He’s since gone on to win four races as well as take a silver medal in the super G in last year’s world championships in St. Moritz, Switzerland.

>> Putzer hoping to avoid surgery

Italian skier Karen Putzer is undergoing intense rehabilitation work with one of Europe’s top physical therapists with the hope of avoiding hip surgery.

Putzer has been plagued with hip pain all season, which forced the 25-year-old to pull the plug on her season last month. La Gazzetta dello Sport reported Putzer, who finished second overall last year behind Janica Kostelic, is being treated by a respected doctor who works with the German soccer team and the Bayern-Munchen soccer club.

Putzer could only compete in two giant slaloms this season, finishing sixth in the season-opener at Soelden and eighth in Alta Badia in December before the hip injury forced her withdrawal.

Italian ski team officials are hoping the rehab work will help Putzer avoid undergoing surgery and an even longer recovery time.

>> Raich still hopes to race at Adelboden

Despite the best advice from his doctors, Austrian Benjamin Raich says he still might race in this weekend’s World Cup events at Adelboden.

Sitting second overall, the 25-year-old is poised to regain the overall World Cup lead if he can shine on his preferred terrain in this weekend’s slalom and giant slalom.

But Raich is still recovering from a horrible crash last week in the super G at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, when he suffered a concussion and a shoulder injury. Despite the risks, Raich says he’s still considering racing.

“I’m still hurting a little bit, but the worst of the head is all but gone,” Raich told Austrian national radio ORF. “Concerning the overall of the World Cup, I don’t want to put undue pressure on myself. I will discuss it will my doctors. If I feel OK, I will ski. I will make a decision by Friday.”

Raich is just four points behind Hermann Maier in the overall and leads the slalom standings and sits third in the giant slalom.

>> Norwegian ski jumper sees day in court

Former Norwegian ski jumper Lars Andreas Oestvik is getting his day in a Utah court, where he’s claiming an inattentive driver derailed his Olympic dreams after being struck by a truck in the 2002 Winter Olympics Games in Salt Lake City.

According to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City, Oestvik said he knelt at the side of the Bear Hollow Road at Utah Olympic Park near Park City to tie his shoe when a pickup struck him and started to drive over him.

According to a report in the Salt Lake City Tribune, Oestvik testified that he held on to the front bumper and was dragged several yards until passersby alerted the driver.

Oestvik, who was set to compete in the nordic combined, said he tried a practice jump after the accident, but performed so poorly that he gave up his spot to another member of Norway’s team, the Tribune reported.

> Canadians press for more Olympic money

Canada has set a high bar of winning at least 35 medals in the 2010 Winter Olympic Games and officials say they will need an additional $35 million a year in funding if they hope to reach that goal.

Ken Read, president of Alpine Canada, said the money is needed on top of the $50 million already being spent on winter sports, Canada Press reported.

“We weren’t saying where the money will come from,” Read said Tuesday at the conclusion of two days of meetings of Canada’s 13 national winter sport organizations in Calgary. “It was simply a question of what do we need to transform our sports system to move us from where we currently stand.”

The sports organizations have set a goal of finishing at least second in medals at the 2006 Winter Games in Turin, Italy, then topping the medal standings when the 2010 Olympics come to Vancouver.