5th December 2008
Finlay Mickel (Edinburgh) is set to spend longer at home than planned over Christmas and New Year after crashing in the first downhill training session on the Birds of Prey course in Beaver Creek, Colorado on 2nd December. This has resulted in a small fracture to his right tibia. It was in Beaver Creek that Finlay fractured his ankle last season.
British Alpine Ski Team Head Coach Mark Tilston commented “although this is obviously very disappointing for Finlay, it’s also a great relief that the meniscus and ligaments in his right knee are all intact and that there is no displacement of the fracture. The prognosis is that Finlay will be on crutches for 6 weeks, during which time he can train upper body and maintain his core strength, as well as being able to use a stationary bike which have no loading and will therefore encourage mobility”.
Mark Simmers, Snowsport GB CEO commented “we are extremely disappointed to hear of Finlay’s injury, especially after he has battled so hard to recover from his injury problems last season. In spite of this, we do have some excellent athletes coming through and the overall future for snowsports in Britain looks bright in what is the pre-Olympic season.
For instance, we have Zoe Gillings, 23, who is Britain’s number one snowboarder and is ranked 4th in the world. She has a very realistic chance of an Olympic medal.
Alain and Noel Baxter and Lesley McKenna continue to perform at high level, and over the next few months we will see young British skiers and snowboarders make their contribution as we prepare for the Olympics”.
Provided all goes well with his rehabilitation it is anticipated that Finlay will be able to start on-snow training in approximately 2 months time. | 
