Lake Louise, Alberta - Manuel Osborne-Paradis claimed his second career win Sunday in a super-g ski race, but there was despair for hosts Canada when John Kucera was badly injured in a crash. Osborne-Paradis, 25, clocked 1 minute, 32.93 seconds on the men's Olympic course, which had a vertical drop of 646 metres. It was his first victory in a super-g, with his other top spot coming in a downhill in March in Kvitfjell, Norway.
Osborne-Paradis held off an Austrian challenge, with Benjamin Raich coming second on 1:33.17 and Michael Walchhofer third on 1:33.55.
Kucera, the downhill world champion, had to be taken away by helicopter. Canadian team officials were quoted as fearing a fracture in his lower leg, two and a half months ahead of the Vancouver Olympics.
Kucera's crash came the day after US skiier TJ Lanning fell in the downhill at the same venue. US team officials said Sunday that Lanning is out for the season with a fractured vertebrae in his neck and a dislocated knee.
Swiss veteran Didier Cuche missed his third season win and had to settle for 10th place in 1:33.92, good enough to retain the World Cup lead with 226 points.
The men's World Cup continues next weekend in Beaver Creek, Colorado, with super-combined, downhill and giant slalom races.
