Overall Standings Leader Falls
Croatia's "wondergirl" Janica Kostelic suffered a dramatic spill in St. Moritz while training on the downhill course on Thursday morning. The 17-year-old racer from Zagreb crashed after an impressive jump in the upper part of the treacherous "Corviglia" run and severely damaged most of the ligaments in her right knee after landing on the course. Janica was first transported to a local hospital in St. Moritz where the first examinations showed that she had torn almost all the ligaments in her right knee in that accident.

	Janica Kostelic

"It's a severe knee injury and we are afraid that she has torn the ACL, PCL and MCL as well as hurt her meniscus in that crash," said a press release from the hospital and signed by Dr. Adrian Urfer. Kostelic, who celebrated two consecutive wins in slalom within the past weeks, was leading the Overall World Cup standings after her latest success in Sestriere, France. Two weeks ago, she scored two top-10 finishes in downhill and super G at Lake Louise, Canada, and she was aiming for a top-3 position in the final World Cup standings at the end of the season.

"The 17-year-old racer from Zagreb crashed after an impressive jump in the upper part of the treacherous 'Corviglia' run..."

She the second top star from the women's tour to injured herself in this early part of the season. In Lake Louise, Austria's Alexandra Meissnitzer also badly damaged a knee while training super G above the ski area. She underwent surgery in Salzburg, Austria, afterwards, but has to rest for the remainder of the winter.

"She [Kostelic] is a fighter and she will work hard to come back and to win more races," said her team manager Vedran Pavel after the accident. He also explained that doctors will re-examine Kostelic's knee in a larger hospital in order to more precisely pinpoint the injury.

"We don't know yet where she will be operated on — we are checking several possibilities, including to fly her to Vail to Dr. [Richard] Steadman's clinic," added Pavel.

Steadman, who has saved the careers of several top ski champions, including the Mahre brothers and Marc Girardelli, is known all over the skiing world for his tremendous surgical skills. Last year, the surgeon with the "golden hands" had to work very hard on the knee of Picabo Street after she sustained a terrible crash in Crans Montana, Switzerland, in March, 1998, after winning an Olympic gold medal at Nagano, Japan. Street is not yet racing again, but hopes to be back next season. Meanwhile, members of the "White Circus" World Cup tour hope Kostelic will recover soon.

— Patrick Lang, MountainZone.com World Cup Correspondent