Strobl injured in training

ByReuters

Published 26/11/2004 at 07:25 GMT

Josef Strobl's hopes of making his debut for his adoptive country of Slovenia suffered a set back when he injured a knee in the training run for the men's World Cup downhill race in Lake Louise. "On my way down, I suddenly felt a great deal of pain and de

Eurosport

Image credit: Eurosport

The 30-year-old Austrian-born Strobl, a seven-time winner on the World Cup tour, stopped as soon as he realised something was wrong before gently navigating down the slope to verify his situation with a doctor.

"The doctor told me I had suffered cartilage damage so I will have a scan and some further tests to assess the extent of the injury.

"Hopefully, it's not too bad and I will be able to ski next week in Beaver Creek.

Lake Louise, AB

Knauss trapped

12/01/2005 at 15:15

"I'm annoyed as I was skiing well and very confident after finishing third in yesterday's time-trial."

Strobl, who was one of his country's greatest talents before Hermann Maier rose to prominence in the late 1990's, opted to switch to the Slovenian team last summer after he struggled to win a place in the Austrian team.

He only raced a few times last season and was unable to pick up a World Cup point.

Realising he had a Slovenian grandfather, Strobl asked the International Ski Federation (FIS) and his Austrian authority to allow him a change of nationality without losing his position in the international rankings.

The FIS accepted the request two weeks ago, allowing Strobl to travel to Canada.

The second training run was dominated by his former team mates with world champion Michael Walchhofer clocking the fastest time ahead of Maier.

American Bode Miller, the leader in the overall World Cup standings, was third and another Austrian, Norbert Holzknecht, fourth.

The downhill race is scheduled for Saturday, followed a Super-G on Sunday.

Lake Louise, AB