Lake Placid, NY – Olympic medalist Andrew Weibrecht of Lake Placid will miss the remainder of the 2011 Audi FIS Alpine World Cup ski tour with a season-ending shoulder injury, U.S. Ski Team Medical Director Kyle Wilkens announced on Friday. Weibrecht suffered a dislocated left shoulder while training slalom in Hinterreit, Austria prior to the annual post Christmas downhill in Bormio, Italy. The injury will require surgery to repair.n”It’s incredibly disappointing to miss races, let alone two of the biggest months of the season with Wengen, Kitzbuehel and the World Championships coming up,” said Weibrecht, who won super G bronze in Vancouver. “But I’ve got a long career ahead of me and right now it’s more important to be smart and come back fully prepared for next winter.”
The unplanned time off snow will allow Weibrecht to recover while attending Dartmouth where he’s in his third year of an Earth Science degree.
“We have an outstanding medical and sport science team in place that will do everything they can to take care of Andrew,” said U.S. Ski Team Men’s Head Coach Sasha Rearick. “He’s an incredibly smart guy and this will give him time to get in some credits at Dartmouth so we can get him back on snow as early as possible.”
“I do feel kind of insulted that I was training slalom when this happened. That’s just not fair to a downhiller,” laughed Weibrecht. “But I worked hard after last season’s shoulder surgery, so I know the routine. We’ve got a really good program in place. We’ll just have to see if my family can figure out what to do with me. It’s been a long time since I’ve been home in winter.”
Weibrecht will split the recovery period between his home in Lake Placid, Dartmouth and the Center of Excellence in Park City.
Fellow teammate Marco Sullivan, of Olympic Valley, Calif., who suffered a downhill training crash in Bormio remains sidelined as well. Sullivan is currently home in Squaw Valley undergoing tests.
“Both Andrew and Marco are members of our family,” added Rearick. “But these guys know how to be smart and put in the hard work it takes to come back strong.”
The U.S. men’s speed team returns to action Jan. 14 in Wengen, Switzerland for the famed Lauberhorn races followed directly by the annual Hahnenkamm race week in Kitzbuehel, Austria.