Female skiers likelier to injure non-dominant knee

Reuters reports: 

Women skiers are more likely than men to injure a knee while skiing, and a new study shows they are about twice as likely to have that injury occur to their non-dominant leg, often the left one.

The study did not go so far as to explain these inequalities, but Dr. Robert Johnson, a sports medicine physician at the University of Vermont College of Medicine said it could be caused "by a whole herd of issues."

"Anatomy, strength patterns, muscle patterns, wider pelvis...it all adds up. It's not just one factor," said Johnson, who was not involved in the research.

Earlier studies have shown that women are twice as likely as men to hurt a knee during downhill ski crashes, and three times as likely to tear the knee's anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL.

Gerhard Ruedl, lead author of the new study and a researcher at the University of Innsbruck in Austria, said he was interested in looking at whether women's knee troubles had to do with leg dominance.

The dominant leg is the one that a person prefers to kick with.

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Kelsey Serwa out for the season

The Kelownacap News reports:

After proving she was one of the best female ski cross racers in the world during the season-opening events, Kelowna's Kelsey Serwa will have to watch the rest of the season from the sidelines.

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Serwa confirmed Wednesday she has a torn ACL, suffered in a crash in France last week, and will need surgery to repair the damage.

On her Facebook account, Serwa explained the results of the MRI this week in Vancouver.

"It's confirmed, I'm out for the season with a blown ACL and will need surgery in the next month or so," she said online. "I have some bone bruising, meniscus damage, and a first degree tear of my MCL but those should heal themselves. Best of luck to all the competitors on the ski cross circuit for the remainder of the season."

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Sato, back on skis

WhitefishBay Patch reports:

Last January, Ellie Sato, then a junior at Whitefish Bay High School and reigning MVP, was shooting downhill in a high school slalom race, crouching and leaning in around a gate when her ski got caught and her leg twisted backward as she tumbled. She was escorted off to learn she had torn her knee's anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) — on the side opposite the one she tore the previous winter — and would be out the rest of the season.

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After reconstructive surgery and eight months of recovery away from her favorite sport, Sato is back on skis and hoping to help lead a bright new Whitefish Bay ski team to state.

"I definitely learned that it takes a lot of effort to get back to where you want to go, and you have to keep at it to get something you want," Sato said.

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Sato had some catching up to do, she said, because many serious skiers don't stop practicing in the off-season. There are camps out west, and dryland training at home.