Kjus suffers World Cup injury blow
GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN, Germany (Reuters) -- Norway's Lasse Kjus's hopes of winning the men's skiing World Cup were dealt a blow as he pulled out of this weekend's three speed events because of a recurrent knee injury.
Kjus left the Bavarian Alps resort after feeling pain in his right knee during Thursday's downhill training run, which he failed to finish.
His withdrawal seriously undermines his chances of claiming the overall World Cup title for the third time after 1996 and 1999.
The Norwegian, whose prolific career has been persistently hit by injuries, was second overall in the World Cup standings before the weekend races -- downhills on Friday and Saturday along with a super-G on Sunday.
The 33-year-old was just 94 points behind Austrian leader Benjamin Raich, who is not a speed specialist, and looked ideally placed to recapture the lead.
Kjus hurt his knee after landing a jump in a downhill in Kitzbuehel on Saturday, two days after winning a downhill on the classic Austrian course.
"It's the same knee," said Norway's downhill coach Mariusz Arnesen. "It's very painful. He's on his way to Norway now and we will have to wait for the result of a medical examination to know exactly how serious this is.
"It's over for Garmisch, that's for sure. Let's hope it's not over for the season."
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