Are: Colds hamper Paerson, Byggmark as SL looms

Swedish skiers Anja Paerson and Jens Byggmark are both nursing colds ahead of the slalom races at the FIS Alpine Skiing World Championships.
ARE, Sweden — Swedish skiers Anja Paerson and Jens Byggmark are both nursing colds ahead of the slalom races at the FIS Alpine Skiing World Championships.
    Paerson, who has a chance to become the first woman to win four golds at the same worlds, said she felt sick after the giant slalom on Tuesday, and has had a runny nose and sore throat since then. She still expected to race in Friday’s slalom.
    “I’ll be lying in bed this afternoon,” Paerson said. “The only thing that could stop me [from racing] is if I have a fever tomorrow. … It just feels like a light cold.”
    Byggmark said he had been training this week despite a light fever, and also needed to rest and take medicine ahead of Saturday’s race.
    Byggmark, who earned back-to-back World Cup victories in January, went out in the first run of Wednesday’s giant slalom and said his cold had drained him of energy.
    “I’m starting to get healthy now,” Byggmark said. “I don’t think this should bother me at all.”
    Byggmark is one of three Swedish skiers — along with Markus Larsson and Andre Myhrer — to win a World Cup slalom this year, and said he would be disappointed without a medal.
    “Of course I want something to hang around my neck,” he said.
    Paerson won the superG, combined and downhill events to become the first skier ever to win a World Championships title in all five disciplines. Despite her cold, she said she still has a good chance for a fourth victory.
    “I’m going to put all the energy I have left on tomorrow,” Paerson said. “I’ve had an incredible championship so far, but it would be nice with another medal. … Slalom has always been my event deep inside my heart.”

— The Associated Press