Aspen’s Casey Puckett, a strong medal hope for the U.S. Ski Team when skiercross makes its Olympic debut in Vancouver, had surgery last week to repair an injured shoulder and is likely to skip the Winter X Games later this month in his hometown.
Puckett vows to be ready for the Olympics, however. The men’s Olympic skiercross will be contested Feb. 21, only 40 days following his surgery.
“You will see me there,” Puckett said.
Puckett separated his shoulder racing in a World Cup event Jan. 10 in Les Contamines, France, and had surgery two days later in Vail.
“I had a couple of options,” Puckett said. “One was nonoperative. When you separate your AC joint, a lot of people don’t have operations and their shoulder gets strong again. But since there was displacement, and if I went nonoperative it would probably be pretty weak, we decided to fix it right away and get right into rehab.”
Puckett, 37, was a four-time Olympian for the U.S. in alpine racing before retiring in 2002. In subsequent years he became a star in skiercross, winning two gold medals at the Winter X Games.
Daron Rahlves, who retired from alpine racing in 2006 as arguably the greatest downhiller in U.S. Ski Team history, also has set his sights on the Vancouver skiercross. Rahlves says he plans to compete at the Winter X Games, Jan. 28-31.
