Advertisement

U.S. Alpine team lends helping hand

 
Published Feb. 12, 1992|Updated Oct. 10, 2005

The U.S. Alpine team offered Norway the use of some of its coaching staff after an American skier crashed into a Norwegian coach and broke his leg.

Norwegian coach Ole Magne Valaker remained hospitalized Tuesday in Chambery, where doctors were considering operating, said Armand Carlsen, assistant chief of the Norwegian Olympic mission.

Valaker, 23, was struck Monday by Megan Gerety, 20, after she ignored warnings that the course for the super-giant slalom had been closed so coaches could mark the trail edge with twigs.

Injury update

AJ Kitt skipped Tuesday's slalom portion of the men's Alpine combined because of a bruised right shin. Kitt, the 23-year-old from Rochester, N.Y., injured his leg in Monday's downhill portion as he came over the final bump on the course on the way to a 10th-place finish. Kitt decided to rest up for this Sunday's super-giant slalom.

Speed skater Dan Jansen complained of a sore neck and took it easy during practice. Jansen, who skates for the first time Saturday, said he thought a muscle in his neck was causing the problem. His coach, Peter Mueller, said the injury was slight and would not hamper Jansen's ability to race.

German ski jumper Marc Noelke, who was injured in a training crash in Albertville last week, had part of his spleen removed in emergency surgery. German team doctor Joseph Keul said surgeons at Albertville Hospital operated overnight after Noelke, 18, began to bleed and his blood pressure dropped. The athlete was comfortable and his life was never in danger, Keul said.

Speed skater Johann Olav Koss, a top contender for three gold medals, has recovered from a bout of pancreatitis and has been cleared to race in the 1,500, 5,000 and 10,000.

Flame is out

LES ARCS, France _ The Olympic flame has been snuffed out early at one Olympic venue, but only as a temporary precaution.

The flame at Les Arcs, where the speed-skiing competition starts Tuesday, was turned off because high winds blew the flame back down into the torch, the site's director, Henri Blanc, said Tuesday.

The flame had slightly damaged an electrical cable inside the structure, but there was no danger, he said. The flame is to be restored today.

TV sabotage

Saboteurs tried to black out television coverage of the opening ceremonies by cutting a transmission cable, the French state telecommunications company said Tuesday.

Coverage of the ceremonies, broadcast live around the world, was only slightly affected because emergency backup facilities took over immediately, France Telecom said in a statement.

Back in action

ALBERTVILLE, France _ Speed skater Johann Olav Koss, a top contender for three gold medals, has recovered from a bout of pancreatitis and has been cleared to race in the 1,500, 5,000 and 10,000.

Miscellany

The American hockey seamstress got it right this time. Defenseman Guy Gosselin's name was spelled correctly on his jersey. No longer is it "Gooselin." The International Olympic Committee set a March 20 deadline for North and South Korea to submit plans for fielding a joint team at the Summer Games in Barcelona, a South Korean sports official said. The IOC's own photographer has been banned from the Winter Games for 24 hours for violating media rules. The IOC photographer, who was not identified, broke media rules by walking onto the ice at Albertville's speed-skating oval Monday during the medal ceremony for the women's 500-meter race.

_ TIMES WIRES