Dale Begg-Smith's tilt at becoming Australia's first dual Winter Olympic gold medallist is on track with the moguls skier declaring his knee better than when he won in Turin three years ago.
Dale Begg-Smith's tilt at becoming Australia's first dual Winter Olympic gold medallist is on track with the moguls skier declaring his knee better than when he won in Turin three years ago.
The 24-year-old has been training at Perisher Valley in the NSW Snowy Mountains, his first serious workout after a season-ending knee injury at a World Cup event in Utah in January.
Far from being awkward timing just a year out from the Vancouver Games, the three-time World Cup champion said the injury was a blessing in disguise.
"The knee feels great and I haven't felt that good on it since early 2005," said Begg-Smith, who made little fanfare about competing in discomfort to win Australia's only gold medal in 2006.
"I am very happy with how things have progressed so far.
"It (the knee) had been bugging me so much since 2005, after a few days of hard skiing it would be so swollen I couldn't get range out of it, I couldn't straighten it and we never really knew what was wrong."
After an arthroscope it was revealed the ACL was split length ways - suggesting a major injury was a question of when, not if.
"Strangely enough this season the leg wasn't hurting so I just loaded it up more - then obviously I blew the thing," he said.
A prodigious trainer, Begg-Smith skied in the mornings and did rehabilitation in the afternoons, logging up 14 days on snow.
Coach Steve Desovich was impressed with the results.
"I didn't know what to expect in terms of outcomes but for seven months (from the injury) I'd say he's above par," Desovich said.
While Begg-Smith has plenty of examples of Australian aerial skiers bouncing back quickly from knee injuries to succeed on the highest stage - including 2002 Winter Olympics gold medallist Alisa Camplin and World Cup champions Jacqui Cooper and Lydia Lassila - the most pertinent example is Finnish moguls skier Janne Lahtela.
Lahtela sustained the same injury a year out from the 2002 Games and went on to claim gold in Salt Lake City.
"He laughed and said `no problem' after I did (my knee) - he said I had an extra week to recover," Begg-Smith said.
Begg-Smith will link up with the Australian aerial ski team for water jump training in Switzerland next month and plans on competing at the opening World Cup event in Finland in December to kick-start his Olympic campaign.
As well as a quick recovery being in his favour, Begg-Smith believes the standard of moguls skiing isn't quite as high as it was three years ago with a number of athletes retiring.
And as for his controversial internet business which made him wealthy but drew more attention than his skiing in Turin, Begg-Smith indicated that was still very much on the backburner.
"There's just too much to do in skiing," he said.
Glenn Cullen
AAP
