Olympic Snowboarding Hopeful Critically Injured

Olympic Snowboarding Hopeful Critically Injured


By JOHN BRANCH
Published: December 31, 2009

The Olympic snowboarding hopeful Kevin Pearce was in critical condition Thursday after sustaining a head injury during training in the halfpipe in Park City, Utah.
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Fabrice Coffrini/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

The snowboarder Kevin Pearce last month. Pearce sustained a critical head injury Thursday in training at Park City, Utah.


Pearce hit his head against the edge of the halfpipe and was knocked unconscious. He was flown to the University of Utah Hospital in Salt Lake City, where doctors planned external ventricular drainage to relieve fluid buildup in the brain, according to Pearce’s mother, Pia.

Pearce, a 22-year-old from Norwich, Vt., was among many of the world’s top halfpipe riders in Park City preparing to compete next week in a competition at Mammoth Mountain, Calif., an event that will serve as part of the Olympic trials.

Pearce, a favorite to make the United States Olympic team, is the rare rider who has beaten the 2006 Olympic gold medalist Shaun White in head-to-head competitions the past couple of years.

Mike Jankowski, the Olympic halfpipe coach for the United States, said that Pearce was injured while trying a double cork, a supremely difficult trick — essentially a twisting double back flip — that most of the top men are trying to add to their repertory this season.

“He did it a little too hard, put a little too much oomph into it, and over-rotated on his second flip,” Jankowski said.

He said that Pearce seemed to strike the edge of the pipe just above his eye. He said that the preliminary diagnosis was for a “significant concussion.” A team trainer and medical director were with Pearce at the hospital.

Pearce’s father is Simon Pearce, one of the most renowned glass blowers in the world, whose Vermont-based company has retail outlets across the Northeast, including one on Park Avenue.

CANADA BEATS U.S. IN JUNIORS Jordan Eberle, Nazem Kadri and Brandon Kozun scored in a shootout, and Jake Allen made the stop he needed to give Canada a 5-4 win over the United States in the world junior hockey championship in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

After the first five shooters scored, Allen stopped Jordan Schroeder’s attempt, then was mobbed by his teammates. The United States had a 4-2 lead in the third period, but Eberle scored his second goal of the game midway through the period. Defenseman Alex Pietrangelo tied the score with a short-handed goal with 4 minutes 15 seconds left.

Canada, the five-time defending champion, and the United States each won their first three games in the tournament. Canada will play in the semifinals Sunday. The United States will face Finland in the quarterfinals Saturday. (AP) CANADA’S BEAT GOES ON Charline Labonte made 40 saves and the Canadian women’s hockey team continued its recent dominance over the United States with a 2-1 exhibition victory Wednesday night in St. Paul.

“History tells us when these two teams have met in previous” exhibition seasons, “the most important game is yet to be determined,” said Mark Johnson, the United States coach, referring to a potential gold medal matchup with the Canadians in Vancouver.

Colleen Sostorics had a goal and an assist, and Haley Irwin also scored for Canada, which has beaten Team USA five times in a row. (AP) NORDIC CHAMPION RETIRES The former Olympic cross-country ski champion Christian Hoffmann, 35, retired after Austria’s national antidoping agency provisionally suspended him because he is suspected of involvement in blood doping. (AP)