OSLO, Norway -- Norway's cross country ski champion Bjoern Daehlie won't be able to race this season due to a back injury, according to the Deutsche Presse-Agentur.
The 32-year-old under went back surgery last week, the Oslo daily Dagbladet reported. Daehlie has won nine Olympic gold medals. He fell during training on roller skis in late August and injured his back.His condition improved during high altitude training in Italy in October, but he suffered a setback and medical tests showed that an operation was necessary.
The operation will a success, officials said.
"This changes nothing in my goal to return to 100 percent health and compete in 2002 games in Salt Lake City," Daehlie said.
Former cross country skiing champion Vegard Ulvang, who under went back surgery twice, wasn't as optimistic about Daehlie's chances of returning to his old form. "He can of course reach his old level again, but I don't believe it," he said.
If Daehlie were to win two gold medals in Utah, he would overtake American athletes star Carl Lewis, Russian gymnast Larrisa Latynina, Finnish skier Paavo Nurmi and American swimmer Mark Spitz, who all won nine Olympic gold medals.
BOBSLED: Twenty-eight athletes competed for spots on the 1999-2000 bobsled national team in a two-day competition earlier this month at the Utah Winter Sports Park.
Driver Brian Shimer led his team of Jason Dorsey, Pavle Jovanovic, and Garrett Hines to claim the title as USA I for the upcoming season.
Driver Jim Herberich drove his team of Dave Owens Doug Sharp and Thomas Brown to a track record during the competition in a time of 47.68 seconds and claimed the title of USA II.
Todd Hays and teammates Lee Adkins Mike Kohn and Ed Williams won the USA III position.
Driver Mike Dionne and push athlete Steve Holcomb of Park City were also selected for the national team.
The men will travel to Lillehammer, Norway, Nov. 22-27 for their first World Cup competition of the season. The teams will also compete in Germany, Austria, Italy, France and Switzerland this year.
SHORT-TRACK SPEED-SKATING: Tom O'Hare set an American record in the 500-meters during the American Cup II competition last weekend in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. O'Hare's time of 42.5 seconds bettered the 42.8 mark set last year by Apolo Anton Ohno.
Also last weekend, O'Hare and Ohno were named to the U.S. men's team, along with Rusty Smith, Mike Kooreman and Chad Richards. On the women's team are Amy Peterston, Julie Goskowicz; Sarah Lang, Erin Porter and Caroline Hallisey. The 10 will comprise the U.S. men's and women's World Cup squads for the 1999-2000 season.
LONG-TRACK SPEED-SKATING: Jennifer Rodriguez placed twice in the top 10 in a pair of Division A World Cup races last weekend in Inzell, Germany. In leading the U.S. contingent, Rodriguez finished fifth in the women's 1,5000 meters with a time of 2 minutes, 3.17 seconds and sixth in the women's 3,000 with a mark of 4:20.26.
Heading the U.S. women's roster announced for the current World Cup season is two-time Olympic medalist Chris Sitty. She is joined by Becky Sundstrom, Amy Sannes, Ellie Ochowicz, Catherine Raney and Rodriguez. Comprising the men's team are Casey FitzRandolph, KC Boutiette, Derek Parra, Nick Pearson, Jondon Trevena, Json Hedstrand and brothers Kip and Cory Carpenter.
LUGE: Mark Grimmette and Brian Martin, bronze medalists at the 1998 Olympics, finished second in the opening round of this year's World Cup luge competition in Lillehammer, Norway. U.S. teammates Nick Sullivan and Matt McClain finished seventh in their World Cup debut.
Becky Wilczak was the top U.S. competitor in the women's single, placing eighth. And Adam Heidt led the U.S. men in the singles with a fifth-place finish.
In an inaugural Challenge Cup competition, a new format which combines head-to-head and time-elimination factors that will precede several World Cup events this year, Grimmette and Martin took the gold at Lillehammer. No U.S. singles competitor advanced past the first of three rounds.
ICE HOCKEY: USA Hockey has announced its 1999-2000 Women's Select Team roster, which includes 10 athletes who were members of the 1998 gold-medal winning Team USA in Nagano, Japan. Back are goaltender Sarah Tueting, defensemen Chris Bailey and Sue Merz; and forwards Alana Blahoski, Karyn Bye, Tricia Dunn, Cammi Granato, Katie King, Shelley Looney and A.J. Mleczko.
Highlights of the upcoming season are the Three Nations Cup tournament Nov. 28 through Dec. 5 in Montreal against Canada and Finland, the Holiday Tournament Dec. 27 through Jan. 2 with against national teams from Russia and Sweden, and a USA-Canada rematch as part of the NHL's All-Star Weekend Feb. 4 in Toronto.
Ben Smith, who guided the U.S. to the gold in Nagano two winters ago, returns as coach. The 2000 International Ice Hockey Federation Women's World Championship is set for April 3-9 in Toronto.
ALPINE SKIING: Jimmie Heuga, whose bronze medal in the slalom during the 1964 Olympics in Innsbruck made him one of the first American skiing medalists, was named the inaugural winner of the Texas Star Award, honoring U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association alumni for community service. Presented a $10,000 for the charity of his choice, Heuga was honored for the creation of the Jimmie Heuga Center in Vail, Colo., which helps patients suffering with multiple scleroisis.
Other regional finalists for the honor included: Andrea Mead Lawrence, a double-gold medalist from California who has worked for three decades on environmental conservation and planning in the Eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains; Jeff Pagels, a two-time Paralympic gold medalist and coordinator for Ski For Light, which introduces disabled individuals to cross country skiing; Salt Lake City's Sally Harris Rytting, a member of the first women's Olympic team in 1948 whose extensive community activities include working with disadvantaged children; and Sally Knight Utter, a Vermont alpine racer who founded Camp ForMe, a weeklong summer camp for adopted children.