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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Street’s Desire Goes One Way Star Downhiller Vows Knee Injury Won’t Keep Her Out Of Nagano Olympics

Ray Grass Deseret News (Salt Lake City)

When Picabo Street next runs the downhill section of Pepi’s Face at Colorado’s Vail Ski Resort, she will approach it with uncommon caution.

She’ll stop, maybe side-slip the first time, and even the second. The third run will be slow, very slow, and the fourth a little faster, maybe. And then, just maybe, by the fifth run she’ll ski it as she knows she can - body tucked, skis flat, her image simply a blur.

“This will be the test. This is where I’ll see if I’ve made it back. I’m nervous because I don’t know how my mind will respond. I know physically I’ll be ready. I just don’t know about my mind,” she said from her therapy table at the IHC Orthopedic Specialty Hospital in Salt Lake City.

Street, who lives in Portland, was recently at the hospital for three days of testing, evaluation and rehabilitation. The IHC hospital has been the official orthopedic center for the U.S. Ski Team since last year.

But Street’s tie to Utah is more than just rehabilitation. She’s also one of the athlete representatives on the Salt Lake Olympic Organizing Committee.

Street is considered one of the best downhill racers of all time. For the past two years she’s dominated the high-speed sport. She remains one of the U.S. team’s greatest hopes in the future.

Last December, during training on Pepi’s Face, she fell, and for the second time in her skiing career she blew her knee out. She tore the ligaments and cartilage in her left knee and pulled the calf muscle away from the bone. Before the season started, it was over for Street.

The damage could be permanent for the average skier. But for an elite ski racer, with her high level of conditioning and resources, the prognosis for full recovery was good.

“In fact, if there is such a thing as good timing for an accident like this, then this was perfect. Actually, this was a nice time to take a break. For five years, my life has been very intense with ski racing. I needed a break,” Street said.

“If you look at the big picture, this is the only time it could have happened and had no real negative results. I’ve got plenty of time to get ready for Nagano - and when I do come back, I’ll be more motivated. While I’m resting, everyone else is out fighting it out,” she said.

Nagano, Japan, will host the 1998 Olympics one year from this month.

Street grew up on the ski slopes of Sun Valley and during her early racing career frequently raced in Utah in the Intermountain Division of the U.S. Ski Association. She won a silver medal during the 1994 Olympics in Kvitfjell, Norway, and is the reigning world downhill champion.

The hardest thing so far, she said, was not being with the team on the World Cup tour.

“I’m watching and I’m crying with the team, and I’m not there. I know if I were there I could improve the chemistry. I’d maybe try something the others wouldn’t and that would maybe make them try other things.

“And I know I can win. Not because I’m cocky or conceited. I’m confident and I know what I can do. I’d be crazy if I wasn’t confident. You can’t go down a course 85 mph and not be confident.”

But that confidence won’t fully return until she has again run Pepi’s Face. “I have to do it. I have to know there won’t be any insecurities,” she said.