Sponring to miss World Cup ski season

A knee injury has forced former world championships medalist Christine Sponring of Austria to miss the entire World Cup ski season.

Sponring crashed during giant &to=http://english.pravda.ru/society/2001/05/30/6382.html' target=_blank>slalom training on Tuesday on the Soelden glacier World Cup slope, and was flown to the Innsbruck University clinic by helicopter.

"Christine tore her cruciate ligaments on her right knee in training today and she is undergoing surgery tonight," Austrian ski federation spokesman Joe Schmid told The Associated Press.

It's the latest injury setback for Sponring, the 2001 world championships combined silver medalist.

She tore knee ligaments and dislocated a shoulder in a downhill crash at St. Moritz, Switzerland, in December 2003, and nine months later she damaged her left thigh bones in a giant slalom training crash in Soelden.