In Friday's World Cup giant slalom in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia all seemed to be going well for Switzerland's Didier Cuche until he apparently caught an edge and lost his balance at the second to last gate of his second run.

After barreling through the gate, he got spun around and hit the final gate hard also, crashing and sliding across the finish line. As a result, he broke his right thumb and proceeded to Schulthess Hospital in Zurich where he underwent surgery on Saturday.

According to Swiss Team spokesperson, Diana Fah, Cuche should be ready to race and challenge for medals in Vancouver. He will receive a custom designed splint to protect his right hand and is confident about competing despite the injury. He will slightly adapt his training, not skiing again until downhill training the following week in Vancouver.

Having competed in the past three Olympics, Cuche won a super-G silver medal in Nagano, Japan in 1998. He is also a super-G gold medalist and downhill silver medalist from last season's World Championships in Val d'Isere, France.

FISalpine.com
Sunday 31 January 2010