KITZBUEHEL, Austria (AP) -- Austria's Patrick Ortlieb, the former Olympic and world champion, broke his right thigh and sustained hip and pelvic injuries today in a crash in practice for a World Cup downhill.
Ortlieb, 31, his career in doubt after the accident on the treacherous "Streif" course, was unconscious for a while and received treatment on the spot before being taken by helicopter to a hospital. He was then flown to Innsbruck for surgery.Ortlieb won the Olympic downhill title in 1992 and the world champion title in 1996. He was fourth in the 1994 Olympics.
After the practice resumed, France's Frederic Marin-Cudraz crashed at the same spot and was taken to the hospital because of a knee injury.