Injured downhill star Dressen to miss Olympics
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Berlin (AFP) – German downhill skier Thomas Dressen said on Friday he has lost his race against the clock to be fit for the Winter Olympics.
A five-time downhill race winner, Dressen has been recovering from surgery on his right knee following an injury which kept him out of most of last season as well.
The 28-year-old has been in cross-country training, building up his strength again and had hoped to ski at Wengen and Kitzbuhel in a bid to qualify for the Olympics, which take place in Beijing in February.
He has now admitted that he will not be in a position to participate in either race.
"For Wengen it's too late, so I won't go to Kitzbuhel either which means that it's also too late (to qualify) for the Games," said Dressen.
Dressen won the downhill at the super-fast Kitzbuhel course in 2018 and on Germany's own feared run at Garmisch.
He also came fifth in the downhill at the 2018 Games in Pyeongchang.
© 2021 AFP