ZWIESEL, Germany — Three-time World Cup champion Lindsey Vonn suffered a concussion when she crashed during practice and was still unsure Thursday whether she will compete in the final two races before the world championships.
Vonn said she will have a medical check this morning before deciding whether to race in a World Cup slalom hours later. A giant slalom is scheduled for Saturday.
“The doctor has to clear me for (today). It depends if I have any symptoms, they are worried about the second impact. Concussions can be pretty dangerous,” Vonn said.
The Vail skier hit her head in a crash Wednesday while practicing the giant slalom in Austria.
“I am definitely sore from my crash but I am definitely feeling better as far as my head goes, we’ll play it by ear (today),” she said. “I didn’t ski (Thursday) just to be safe, to have one more day before the race, try to be a little bit more healthy.”
Vonn said the soreness was “manageable,” and not something that would prevent her from competing at next week’s world championships, where Vonn will defend her super-G and downhill titles in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, beginning Tuesday.
“I will definitely be racing at the world championships,” she said. “I crashed or almost crashed many times this season, so it’s not something new. I don’t know what’s got into me this year.”
Zettel won’t defend title
VIENNA — Defending champion Kathrin Zettel of Austria will not start in next week’s super-combined event at the world championships because of a persistent hip injury.
“It is not realistic. I have not been able to do speed training,” Zettel said. “The risks would have been too high.”
Zettel, 24, has been struggling with hip problems since last year. She has only competed in slalom and giant slalom races this World Cup season. The super-combined consists of a downhill and a slalom.
Schlopy wins slopestyle
PARK CITY, Utah — After winning the big air competition at the Winter X Games last weekend in Aspen, Alex Schlopy won gold in the inaugural men’s slopestyle skiing finals at the freestyle world ski championships, joining other athletes in putting on a show they hope will land their event in the 2014 Winter Olympics.
“It’s one of the fastest-growing, most progressive sports out there right now,” Schlopy said of an event in which athletes go down a ski run filled with a variety of rails and jumps and acrobatic spins with big air. “People love it.”
While at least one International Olympic Committee member was impressed, a decision on whether to include the event at the 2014 Sochi Games won’t be made until April.
“What I have seen from slopestyle, it is very good,” Canadian IOC representative Walter Sieber said. He added, “The IOC sending an observer here is very serious in recognizing eventually that slopestyle and halfpipe skiing could potentially be accepted.”
Australia’s Anna Segal won the women’s competition.
Denver Post wire services
