Palander out indefinitely with stress fracture

The Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat is reporting that 1999 slalom World Champion and 2003 World Cup slalom champ Kalle Palander won’t return to the circuit until well after the New Year and perhaps not until next season because of a slow healing stress fracture in his lower leg.

THE FINNISH newspaper Helsingin Sanomat is reporting that 1999 slalom World Champion and 2003 World Cup slalom champ Kalle Palander won’t return to the circuit until well after the New Year and perhaps not until next season because of a slow healing stress fracture in his lower leg.
    The 31-year-old Palander said at a press conference Thursday he was annoyed that the stress fracture he had surgery to fix in February had not healed as well as expected and added that he wanted to return to the race hill as quickly as possible.
    “My career is far from over. And when I do come back it will surely be noticed," Palander says.
    Finnish national team surgeon Eero Hyvärinen performed the operation on Palander’s shin in February, and it apparently was healing well until a month ago when Palander felt pain in his leg and momentarily lost balance while training in Argentina.
    “The shin was X-rayed and there seemed to be a tear in the periosteal membrane," Hyvärinen says.
    Less than a week ago, Palander set off for another training camp at Sölden, Austria. There, he immediately felt severe pain in his leg as soon as he put the ski boots on.
     “I did not even bother to try to get to the slopes," Palander says.
    His shin was then X-rayed in Finland.
     “The difference relative to the situation a month ago was dramatic. In the bone, where there used to be a stress fracture, it now appears to be a kind of an empty space. Also in the area where a plate and two screws were inserted there clearly appears to have been some movement,” Hyvärinen described.
     Hyvärinen did not think the mishap in Argentina was the main cause for the injury.
    “These stress fractures heal slowly, and the problem would have manifested itself in any case before the end of the training season,” Hyvärinen says.
    Palander will undergo another surgical procedure where a steel rod will be inserted through a hole next to the knee into the bone marrow cavity of the tibia and pushed all the way down to the ankle. In a previous operation a titanium plate had been inserted to support Palander’s shin but that will be removed.
    “In February, I used the metal plate in order to avoid irritating Kalle’s knee that has also bothered him for years. Now a larger plate would have been required. Hence it was better to change the system,” Hyvärinen says.
    Palander says he intends to return and compete in the 2010 Olympic Games.
    “The Olympic Games are 18 months away. There, I intend to be the one to beat,” he says. “But a miracle is needed if I am to take part in the World Championships [in Val d'Isère] this coming February.”