TORINO: Alpine: 2002 Olympic champ Vidal breaks arm freeskiing, will miss slalom

TORINO: Alpine: 2002 Olympic champ Vidal breaks arm freeskiing, will miss slalom{mosimage}Defending Olympic slalom champion Jean-Pierre Vidal of France broke his arm while skiing for pleasure Friday and will not start in Saturday’s race.

”He has pulled out. The examination has shown a fracture of the left arm,” French ski team technical director Gerard Rougier said. ”It needs to be immobilized and he may need an operation.”

Vidal, who turned 29 on Friday, had planned to retire after Saturday’s race.

– The Association Press