U.S. downhill skier Lindsey Kildow was carried off the mountain after she was injured during a training run today. She landed on her back, hitting her head, after flying fifteen feet through the air. She was taken by helicoptor to a hospital in Turin. No other details were immediately available, but we will keep you updated. Please take a moment to offer a quick prayer for Lindsey, if you’re so moved.

Shortly before Lindsey was injured, defending Olympic champion Carole Montillet-Carles, of France, was also injured after hitting a protective fence. She was conscious but no other details were available.

Our prayers go out to both these athletes.

Waah! I’m saddened to report that American Daron Rahlves finished WAY out of medal contention. Bode Miller also failed to medal, although this event isn’t really the sport where he excells. So, who did win?

Surprisingly, a skier from France. This was really one of those out of left field Olympic moments. Antoine Deneriaz, 29, has not won a World Cup race in more than two years. Deneriaz has won three World Cup races but had never done better than eighth in a world championships or Olympic Games.

Austrian Fritz Strobl , who had hoped to become the first Olympic downhill champion to successfully defend his title, told reporters “This means that the Olympic law holds true—the law that the guy who wins the Olympics is always someone unexpected”.

Here are the rest of the results from the downhill:

Silver Michael Walchhofer Austria
Bronze Bruno Kernen Switzerland

In early training runs this week, Daron Rahlves bested World Cup downhill champion Michael Walchhofer by more than a full second. This puts Rahlves in an excellent position to win Olympic Gold. Bode Miller, the reigning downhill world champion, finished 16th, 2.75 seconds back.

Kristina Koznic updated her personal website on Saturday with a note to friends and family that she has partially torn her ACL and may have to miss the Olympics. Because the ACL is only partially torn, she is hoping to stay in Europe and rehab the injury, with hopes of competing in Turin on February 22nd. She asks for prayers as she rehabs and makes the difficult decision about what to do.

She could be the second woman from the U.S. Ski Team member to miss the Turin Olympics because of a knee injury that came during World Cup training. Last month, Caroline Lalive was injured in downhill practice at Cortina d’Ampezzo when she landed awkwardly after a jump.

Alpine (also known as downhill) skiing consists of five events. Men and women both compete in this Olympic sport. In each of the four events, competitors race down the mountain to see who can complete the course in the fastest time. Time is measured to the nearest .01, and ties are allowed.

Downhill

Downhill features the longest course and the highest speeds in alpine skiing. Most downhill courses begins at or near the top of the mountain. Alternating red and blue gates are spaced great distances apart, but not out of sight from each other. Scores in the downhill are based on a single run.

Super G

The Super-G is considered a speed discipline, like downhill, rather than a technical discipline, like the slalom races. Each skier makes one run down a single course and the fastest time determines the winner. Super-G requires skiers to ski quickly through a series of gates. Both feet must pass through the gate, or the skier is disqualified. The course is shorter than downhill but longer than a giant slalom course. Skiers need to be familiar with the course in order to avoid making wide turns that will cost them time. The first skiers down the slope have a smoother and therefore faster race.

Slalom, Giant Slalom

The slalom and giant slalom both require skiers to have good technique to enable them to ski down the course that involves much tighter turns than the speed disciplines. The giant slalom, a looser version of the slalom with fewer and wider turns raced on a longer course, also requires speed. The slalom features the shortest course and the quickest turns. In both slalom events, skiers makes two runs down two different courses on the same slope. The runs take place on the same day. The winner is the skier who has the shortest combined total.

Combined

The combined event requires the athlete to ski one downhill course, followed by two slalom runs. The times are added together and the fastest total time determines the winner. The combined downhill and the combined slalom competitions are separate from the regular downhill and slalom events, and the combined courses are shorter.

For more information, visit the official Olympic site. If you’re a visual learner, be sure to check out their Flash demos of the alpine disciplines.

You can try your hand at skiing in this online game.

We wrote earlier about the Ethiopian ski team, now there’s an attempt to qualify someone for the Ghana ski team. Time is getting short to qualify, and team Ghana (Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong) is low on funds. If you’d like to read more about Kwame and support his cause, visit his site at http://ghanaskiteam.com/index.htm

If you have any ideas about how to help Kwame, please leave them in the comments section.

Mark Bridgwater was planning to spend next month in Italy, competing in the 2006 Turin Olympics. Instead, he’ll be recovering from knee reconstruction surgery after an injury to his anterior cruciate ligament on the slopes of Hunter Mountain, New York, last week ended his Olympic dreams.

In other skiing news, Benjamin Raich, of Austria, won a World Cup giant slalom, the last before next month’s Olympics, overtaking Daron Rahlves atop the overall standings. This was Raich’s second straight giant slalom win.

Bode Miller, who is the overall champion, finished 14th.

The U.S. Olympic team will be announced Jan. 25. BodeMiller, Daron Rahlves and Erik Schlopy have qualified for the giant slalom squad. The last spot will be filled by Ted Ligety or James Cochran.