Injured slalom champion Grange to skip Vancouver

AFP - Reigning World Cup slalom champion Jean-Baptiste Grange will not compete in the 2010 Winter Olympics after being ruled out for the rest of the season injured, his coach David Chastan told AFP on Tuesday.

The 25-year-old, the top medal hope for the French alpine skiing team in Vancouver in February, injured his right knee during the giant slalom in Beaver Creek, Colorado on Sunday.

"He ruptured his cruciate ligament. That requires surgery," the technical team coach explained. "He felt a crack on the fifth gate on the first leg in the giant slalom and as a precautionary measure didn't start the second."

After Grange's return from the United States "he was under no illusions, he already had the first diagnosis and we were awaiting the second," added Chastan after they visited a specialist in Lyon.