Alpine skiing-Norway's Kilde pulls out of Kitzbuehel super-G with back injury

KITZBUEHEL, Austria, Jan 23 : Norway's Aleksander Aamodt Kilde withdrew from the Kitzbuehel World Cup super-G race on Friday as he continues to struggle with a back injury and remains a doubt for the Olympics.

The 33-year-old had already pulled out of Saturday's iconic Hahnenkamm downhill at the Austrian resort but had hoped to test his fitness in the super-G race which kicks off the weekend.

"He trained super-G early this morning, but he's not ready to race yet," Norway's team manager Michael Rottensteiner said in a statement. "His back is getting better day by day, and the outlook looks very good with regard to starting in Crans Montana next week."

Kilde, who took a bronze medal in super-G at the 2022 Beijing Games, sustained serious injuries to his shoulder and leg, as well as a subsequent infection, after he crashed in Wengen, Switzerland in January 2024 during a downhill race.

He missed last season but returned at the World Cup event in November at Copper Mountain, Colorado. His best finish this season was 11th in the downhill at Beaver Creek.

Kilde won the World Cup downhill title in 2022 and 2023 and was overall World Cup champion in 2020, but is running short of time to prove his fitness for the Milano Cortina Olympics with the downhill in a little over two weeks.

"I saw it coming, my back has been really struggling the last couple of days and I know what Kitzbuehel needs and you can't go down there not feeling 100 per cent," he said.

"I need to listen to the body but it's just about getting in the game again as soon as possible."

Next week's Crans Montana race is the last World Cup event before the start of the Olympics.