Balky knee forces Rocca to take a break

Knee problems have forced World Cup slalom champion Giorgio Rocca to take a break from ski racing and reconsider his decision to enter the speed events, Reuters reported on Tuesday.

KNEE PROBLEMS have forced World Cup slalom champion Giorgio Rocca to take a break from ski racing and reconsider his decision to enter the speed events, Reuters reported on Tuesday.
    The Italian technical specialist has pulled out of super-G and giant slalom races in Hinterstoder, Austria, on Wednesday and Thursday, and told reporters he would not resume racing until January 7.
    "That's enough. No races until January. I'm just going to think about getting better and I'm just going to think about slalom," Rocca, who injured his right knee in a downhill training fall in Canada last month, told reporters after Monday's slalom in Alta Badia.
    Rocca finished fourth in Alta Badia, having been 12th after the first leg, but said his knee was still causing concern.
    "The problem is that today the right knee was still hurting," the 31-year-old said. "Cortisone shots had taken away the pain but now the effect has worn off and the knee has not healed."
    Rocca, who has won 11 World Cup slalom races — including five straight last season — and was the bronze medalist in the discipline at the last two World Championships, said he planned to return for the Jan. 7 slalom in Adelboden, Switzerland, a race he won last season.