Kelsey Serwa, last year's gold medalist in Women's Skier X, won't get a chance to defend her title in Aspen due to a spectacular crash last week at a World Cup race in Alpe d'Huez, France.
"My season was ended early after a sweet flat spin, 360, spread-eagle crash over a boxed feature and onto the flat hard ground," Serwa confirmed in an e-mail. "I got an MRI [Jan. 17] and the results show a blown ACL, bone bruising, slight tear to my MCL and some meniscus damage. Other than the ACL, everything should be able to heal itself."
Serwa upset Ophelie David's bid for a fifth straight Skier X gold in scintillating fashion last January, soaring 150 feet off the final jump into a breathtaking crash that left her with a bloody face. She recovered to win the FIS World Championship in Utah a week later, and this winter, she won a pair of early World Cups to take the points lead into the Alpe d'Huez race.
Serwa's season-ending injury adds to the Canadian team's woes and, as of Sunday, leaves just one North American woman -- Canada's Marielle Thompson -- on the start list for Skier X. Canadian stars Ashleigh McIvor, the 2010 Olympic champion, and Julia Murray, last year's World Championships silver medalist, are already out for Winter X with torn ACLs of their own. "I do not have a confirmed date for surgery as of yet, but we are shooting for an appointment at the end of this month," Serwa said.
