San Sicario, Italy – Hermann Maier pulled it off. Lindsey Kildow is hoping she can, too.
Maier built his legend on winning the 1998 Olympic super-G three days after one of the most spectacular downhill crashes in ski racing history. Kildow wants to race today’s Olympic downhill two days after a sickening crash in training that put her in a hospital with severe pelvic contusions and a body full of aches and pains.
“We want to give her the opportunity to race if she feels like it,” said U.S. Ski Team alpine director Jesse Hunt. “She has been pretty banged up from her crash, but there is a chance she will race.”
Maier was the dominant racer on the tour in 1998 and the heavy favorite in four events. Kildow, 21, is just coming into her own among the elite, and no one knows how competitive she can be racing stiff and in pain. She will get lots of credit for trying, regardless of the outcome.
“I like the attitude,” said Bill Marolt, chief executive of the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association. “I think that says a lot about her preparation and what she wants to get done here. That’s the response you would like to hear from every competitor.”
Kildow was released from a hospital in Turin about 24 hours after her crash, which occurred when she caught an edge in a section of rolling terrain at about 50 mph. The U.S. Ski Team formally entered her in the race Tuesday afternoon.
“She’s second in the downhill standings, she started out well in the first training run and got second,” Hunt said. “She’s definitely confident and competent on this (course). We want to leave the door open if she feels comfortable enough to race.”
Kildow would be regarded as a strong medal contender if not for the effects of her accident. She has six career World Cup podiums with three wins and finished fourth in the downhill at the 2005 world championships.
“She’s pretty stiff,” said Kildow’s boyfriend, former U.S. Ski Team racer Thomas Vonn. “That could definitely take away from her performance. It doesn’t matter as much as just getting back out there and feeling good about her skiing again.”
There’s another reason to race today if she can: She would be considered a strong medal contender in Friday’s combined, an event consisting of a downhill run and two slalom runs. Getting another run on the downhill course after missing a training run Tuesday could help her considerably on Friday.
“She’s a competitor,” Vonn said. “She wants to go out and give it her all. At least try to give it her all.”
The other Americans in today’s race are Julia Mancuso, a double bronze medalist at the 2005 world championships; Kirsten Clark, a silver medalist in super-G at the 2003 world championships; and Stacey Cook, a 21-year-old in her second year on the team.
The favorite is 32-year-old Michaela Dorfmeister of Austria, who has four world championship medals (two gold) but only one Olympic medal. She took silver in the super-G in Nagano when Picabo Street beat her by .01 of a second. She has clinched the World Cup downhill title, her second.
Staff writer John Meyer can be reached at 303-820-1616 or jmeyer@denverpost.com.
