<b>Scary crashes and falls mar third day of competition at Turin Olympics</b>
http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/torino ... &type=lgns
Several athletes were injured in frightening crashes Monday (February 13th) at the Turin Olympics:
WOMEN'S DOWNHILL:
-- Lindsey Kildow: American gold medal contender fell on her training run. She was taken by helicopter from San Sicario to a Turin hospital with a severely bruised left hip.
-- Carole Montillet-Carles: Defending Olympic champion lost control during a jump midway through her run, slamming into the protective fencing. Montillet-Carles, of France, was taken to a clinic in nearby Sestriere with rib and back trauma and minor facial abrasions. X-rays were negative.
-- Allison Forsyth: Canadian racer crashed and was taken to Turin, where an MRI showed she had torn a ligament in her left knee.
-- Elisabeth Goergl: Austrian fell but was able to ski down on her own.
LUGE
-- Samantha Retrosi: American was carried off on a stretcher and taken away in an ambulance after slamming into the wall on the second run of the Olympic competition. She appeared unconscious as she slid underneath her sled through at least two curves, and a large drape was pulled across the curve where she stopped, shielding her from view. Retrosi had a concussion and short-term memory loss and was taken by helicopter from Cesana to Turin.
-- Several other lugers crashed on the first day of the women's event, including Italy's Anastasia Oberstolz-Antonova, who was expected to challenge for a medal. Czech slider Marketa Jeriova wiped out in the opening round, and medal hopeful Natalia Yakushenko of Ukraine didn't start her second run after banging the wall hard and hurting herself in her opening heat. Canada's Alex Gough and Slovakia's Jana Sisajova also had near-disasters -- Sisajova came off her sled in a turn and lay on the ice for several seconds before climbing over the barriers apparently unharmed. Argentina's Michelle Despain bounced off the walls repeatedly in both of her runs -- she struck concrete at least six times on her second.
-- Anne Abernathy: Slider known as "Grandma Luge" withdrew because of a broken wrist. The 52-year-old Abernathy crashed Sunday during a training session and was taken to a hospital. She made her Olympic debut for the U.S. Virgin Islands in 1988.
SNOWBOARDING
-- Melo Imai: Japanese star was carried away on a stretcher after injuring her lower back during a qualifying run. Imai collapsed in the center of the halfpipe after failing to land cleanly from a flip and spin combination, smacking her board and body into the lip. She briefly slipped in and out of consciousness before being flown by helicopter from Bardonecchia to Turin.
FIGURE SKATING
-- Phyo Yong Myong and Jong Yong Hyok: North Korea's only skaters in the pairs final withdrew after Phyo was injured in practice. Phyo fell on a throw move and crashed into the boards at the training rink.
Updated on Monday, Feb 13, 2006 2:46 pm EST