International Roundup: Europa Cup, Cook, Kildow, Dawson and snowboard worlds

International Roundup: Europa Cup, Cook, Kildow, Dawson and snowboard worldsThe U.S. men’s Europa Cup team is mid-way through a tough race series in Bad Kleinkirchheim, Austria. The mountain is farther south and east than most Austrian races, only 45 minutes from Kranjska Gora, Slovenia. The hill features what some people say is the second-hardest downhill in the world, after Kitzbuehel. ‘It was designed by Franz Klammer, and it is so, so gnarly’ says Thomas Erhard, the head coach of the U.S. Ski Team’s C Team. ‘It is unbelievable. There’s a part that’s as steep as the Mausefalle at Kitz, but it’s much longer and has turns on it. It’s long almost two minutes and it’s rattle-y and rough the whole way. In the first training run, fewer than 10 guys made every gate.’

Races are still underway, but already Steve Nyman, the 2002 Sprint/Ski Racing Junior of the Year, is proving that he can fight back from a serious leg break last season in Altenmarkt, Austria. He finished ninth in the first downhill this week, in a field full of World Cup athletes (the younger Austrians went there instead of Chamonix, in part because this mountain may be hosting World Cups in upcoming years).

‘Seeing Steve come back in four events is really great’ said Erhard. ‘He had the same injury that Bryon Friedman had last week at Chamonix, and it proves that you can come back from it.’ (Like Friedman, Nyman had a medal rod inserted in his shin in surgery following a bad leg break.)

This just in…

Kristina Koznick won a FIS race in Hinterreith, Austria, today. Earlier this week, she spoke to skiracing.com here…Lindsey Kildow, who was fourth in the Cortina super G yesterday, won the training run for the Cortina downhill today. Click here for more…The second training run at Wengen was cancelled do to heavy fog…Bryon Friedman has returned to the United States, and is recovering well.

Our online columnist is on the mend

Stacey Cook, whose online journal at www.skiracing.com has been one of the site’s most popular features, is recovering from her bad crash last week at the World Cup downhill in Santa Caterina, Italy. The reigning NorAm champion fell over on one of the last difficult turns on the fast track and, from what she was told later, hit the netting at close to 70 miles per hour headfirst. She sprained the medial collateral ligament in her knee, bruised her forearm and knocked herself silly.

‘I guess I stood up and kept asking how Lindsey was doing over and over’ she said in a phone call from Austria, where she was recuperating before heading home to California. ‘They put me in a nuerological unit at the hospital there, and there were a lot of people who might not have been psychos, but they did have brain problems…I hope no one gets hurt during world championships, because that’s not a fun hospital.’

Jeremy Transue injured again

And Jeremy Transue, the 2003 Sprint/Ski Racing Junior of the Year, ruptured his ACL in a fall at a Europa Cup in Austria, and has returned to the United States.

Heartbreak for U.S. Freestyle

World Cup moguls leader Toby Dawson pf Vail, Colorado, was injured during dryland training Tuesday at Lake Placid, N.Y., the U.S. Ski Team announced Wednesday. Dawson, winner of last week’s World Cup in Mont Tremblant, Canada, broke his right foot during a volleyball exercise with teammates. He will be traveling home to Vail Thursday and will see Dr. Jason Folk at the Steadman/Hawkins Clinic. It is not determined how long Dawson will be out of competition.

Dawson currently leads the World Cup moguls standings and has six career victories. Last week’s win was Dawson’s first competition since breaking his leg in March 2004.

Schiffy comes back in dramatic style

Andreas Schifferer has made his switch to Fischer skis. In his first race since leaving Rossignol, the Austrian was skiing well at Adelboden before he crashed hard in roughly the same spot where Daron Rahlves wrecked the same day. Schifferer plowed into the B-netting near the finish of the classic Swiss giant slalom, knocking spectators out of the way, including one woman who went to the hospital with a broken femur. “That race is the Kitzbuehel of giant slaloms,” said Daron Rahlves, recovering from his own crash there. “You can break a leg just watching it as a spectator.”

American team named for Snowboard World Championships, starting next week in Whistler, B.C.

Twenty-five athletes representing the United States will be headed to the FIS Snowboard World Championships in Whistler, B.C., January 15-23. Among those named to the American Worlds team are U.S. Snowboarding standouts Steve Fisher (St. Louis Park, MN), Hannah Teter (Belmont, VT) and Lindsey Jacobellis (Stratton Mountain, VT). The event marks the first time that Worlds will be held in North America in its 10-year history. “Whistler is going to be awesome’ said U.S. Snowboarding Program Director Jeremy Forster. ‘They have great competition venues and run high-quality events. It is probably the most important Snowboard World Championships to date and will be a good indicator of how our riders stand as we work towards 2006.” For more, including full rosters, click here