Are: Injured Kildow down but certainly not out

American Lindsey Kildow, who leads the U.S. Ski Team with two silver medals at the World Championships, won’t have the chance to add any more after she was injured in slalom training on Thursday.
    Kildow suffered a partially torn ACL and bone bruise in her right knee after she straddled a gate during a training run at Are. The tip of her right ski hit the gate head-on and Kildow’s weight was thrown forward, hyperextending her knee. The tear was “only a Grade 1,” Kildow said, “so it’s not season ending, but right now I’m not racing until it gets considerably better.”
    Kildow was scheduled to start Friday night’s slalom along with teammates Resi Stiegler and Kaylin Richardson.
    Already with silver medals in the downhill and super G, Kildow said she was bummed not to be racing in the slalom and in Sunday’s team event, but she remained optimistic about returning to the World Cup this season. 
    “I’m surprisingly OK,” she said. “I think my season’s been really great so far, I’ve been really happy with it. If I can’t ski the rest of the season I’m won’t be extremely disappointed, but I felt like I still had a chance at the overall [World Cup title] so that’s disappointing.”
ARE, Sweden — American Lindsey Kildow, who leads the U.S. Ski Team with two silver medals at the World Championships, won’t have the chance to add any more after she was injured in slalom training on Thursday.
    Kildow suffered a partially torn ACL and bone bruise in her right knee after she straddled a gate during a training run at Are. The tip of her right ski hit the gate head-on and Kildow’s weight was thrown forward, hyperextending her knee. The tear was “only a Grade 1,” Kildow said, “so it’s not season ending, but right now I’m not racing until it gets considerably better.”
    Kildow was scheduled to start Friday night’s slalom along with teammates Resi Stiegler and Kaylin Richardson.
    Already with silver medals in the downhill and super G, Kildow said she was bummed not to be racing in the slalom and in Sunday’s team event, but she remained optimistic about returning to the World Cup this season. 
    “I’m surprisingly OK,” she said. “I think my season’s been really great so far, I’ve been really happy with it. If I can’t ski the rest of the season I’m won’t be extremely disappointed, but I felt like I still had a chance at the overall [World Cup title] so that’s disappointing.”
    The women’s World Cup season resumes Feb. 22-24 in Sierra Nevada, Spain, with a slalom and giant slalom. Kildow said she will not race in Spain but has tentatively planned to return for the speed races in Tarvisio, Italy, on March 2-4. Two downhills, a super G and a super combi are on the schedule, and Kildow is right in the thick of the chase for the overall (currently 5th), downhill (3rd) and super G (2nd) World Cup titles.
    “I’m going to try and heal fast, if I can do that. … But it really depends on how good I feel and how my knee heals,” she said.
    Kildow said she will not return to the United States, opting instead for Austria to begin rehabbing the knee. She added that the resullts of an MRI done late Thursday in Ostersund, Sweden, have been sent to U.S. Ski Team physician Dr. Richard Steadman in Vail, Colorado, and she’s currently on 24-hour obsevation.
    In October, Kildow bruised a bone near her left knee in a training crash for the season-opening giant slalom in Sölden, Austria. “I've proven I can ski on that. It’s not that big a deal,” she said Friday.
    Kildow said she is trying to remain upbeat despite the injury, adding that she will leave Are with great memories of her two medals.
    “I really think, especially in the downhill, it was really positive to get second place with that big mistake. I was hoping to maybe have a good race today, but that’s behind me now. I’m trying to stay positive,” Kildow said.
    And who’s her favorite for Friday night’s slalom? “Resi, of course,” Kildow said. “We’ll see though.”