European Report: Austria’s young star Nicole Hosp out for the season{mosimage}Nicole Hosp is out for the season after breaking her left ankle while jogging Monday, AFP reported.

The 20-year-old gate specialist from Austria slipped on ice and was taken to a hospital in Innsbruck, where she is expected to undergo surgery.

Hosp, a winner of two World Cup races this season, was third in the World Cup slalom standings and second in the giant slalom standings behind Sweden’s Anja Paerson.

>> Miller wants to win Schladming

Bode Miller’s hopes for the overall title got yet another boost with his win in the Kitzbuehel combined. Miller has pulled within 123 points of overall leader Lasse Kjus and with Tuesday’s night slalom on tap at Schladming, Austria, Miller knows he needs to score points.

“I’m doing better in the slalom and now need a win. Maybe I’ll manage it at Schladming,” Miller told Reuters. “It’s a great race and I’ve won there before so I’m really looking forward to it. In my mind it’s the toughest slalom. It’s steep and usually the snow conditions are really challenging.”

Miller has rediscovered his touch in the slalom, scoring his first podium since last January in Bormio, Italy, when he took third at Chamonix, France, earlier this month. Miller won Schladming in 2002, but had a string of slalom races without scoring points dating back nearly a year to Korea last March.

Of the top 10 skiers in the overall, only four — Kjus, Benjamin Raich, Miller and Kalle Palander — have scored points in the slalom this season.

Kjus holds a narrow 6-point lead over second-place Raich, a strong slalom skier who could regain the overall lead. Hermann Maier remains quietly in third at 732 points while Miller has moved up to fourth overall with 701 points.

Palander will be the favorite for victory on the Planai course. The skier from Finland won under the floodlights last year and has already won two other races on Austrian snow this season.

>> Spain’s top skier all smiles after big weekend

Spanish skier María José Rienda Contreras is known for her quick smile and, for the second time this season, she was smiling with a podium view.

“I knew something big could happen,” she told the Spanish daily MARCA. “We trained well here all week which allowed me to make a good plan for the race. I also had a lot of motivation because the course was perfect.”

Rienda Contreras finished third in Saturday’s giant slalom at Maribor and pushed into third in the giant slalom standings, just one point ahead of Italian Denise Karbon. She said she’s familiar with the next two giant slalom courses and hopes to move a few more spots up the podium.

“They are ideal courses for me to continue on the path I’ve had this season,” she said. “If I felt the way I did here and at Soelden, I am confident.”

>> Canucks rebuilding ski jumping team

Canadian ski jumpers will hit the World Cup ski jumping circuit for the first time in more than 10 years as four junior athletes are set to compete in the next month’s World Cup event in Willingen, Germany.

As part of efforts to fortify the nation’s medal hopes going into the 2010 Winter Games at Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada is planting seeds it hopes will blossom into medals nearly six years from now.

Both coaches and athletes agree the upcoming competition will be nothing more than a learning experience and an opportunity to tell the world Canada is back in the sport of ski jumping, Canadian Press reported.

The four athletes chosen to make up the nucleus of this jumping squad have been competing throughout North America and Europe at the junior level for many years. Solid results convinced the Calgary Olympic Development Organization and other sponsors to fund a World Cup team.

>> Racing today: Men’s slalom, night event, Schladming, Austria. … Nordic combined, sprint K120/7.5km, Sapporo, Japan