Lake Louise crash leaves U.S. skier with fractured vertebra

The U.S. ski team says T.J. Lanning has a fractured vertebra in his neck and a dislocated left knee from a crash during the season-opening World Cup downhill at Lake Louise, Alta.

U.S. ski team spokesman Tom Kelly, in Aspen, Colo., said Sunday that the 25-year-old Lanning, of Park City, Utah, has full movement but that his injuries are "clearly season-ending."

Team medical director Richard Quincy called Lanning's injuries "serious," but added in a statement on Sunday that the "vertebra fracture is not displaced and does not appear to require surgery at this time."

Lanning was hurt Saturday and taken to a Calgary hospital. He'll be moved to a hospital in Vail, Colo.

His best World Cup showing was ninth place in last year's downhill at Lake Louise.

Canadian skier John Kucera also had to be airlifted off the Lake Louise slopes after crashing in an icy section during Sunday's super-G race. Kucera's condition wasn't immediately known, but Alpine Canada chief athletics officer Max Gartner wasn't optimistic.

"There's something seriously wrong with him on the leg," Gartner told CBC Sports. "They're going to bring him to the hospital and we'll see from there."