Kjetil Jansrud out for the season after Beaver Creek crash

Kjetil Jansrud, the 36-year-old Norwegian speed specialist, sustained a season-ending knee injury this weekend in a Beaver Creek super G race. Despite the disappointment of sustaining an injury during an Olympic season, Jansrud seems to maintain a motivated mindset, according to the Norwegian ski association.

“The season is over for me, but I am motivated to do the job needed to come back,” says Jansrud.

Askel Lund Svindal was 36, the same age as Jansrud currently, when he retired from the sport in 2018. Much like Jansrud, Svindal was a Norwegian speed specialist who suffered a knee injury in his 30s, when he tore his ACL and meniscus in 2016. Svindal and Jansrud have raced each other for many years, even winning gold and silver, respectively, in the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympic downhill.

Jansrud was diagnosed with damage to his cruciate ligament and the inner ligament in his knee after the fall in Colorado. After further examinations in Oslo, his surgery and recovery plan is still a bit unclear, according to Marc Strauss, the Norwegian alpine team doctor. He reports, “Kjetil is out for six to nine months, and we know more about the final extent of the damage after the operation has been completed.” Without knowing the extent of surgery necessary to repair Jansrud’s knee, it is hard to predict when he will be able to return to snow.

The operation to repair Jansrud’s cruciate ligament is planned for the end of next week.