KITZBUEHEL (Austria), Jan 19: American Scott Macartney was injured when he crashed at full speed near the finish of the men’s World Cup downhill on Saturday.

The racer, starting second and skiing on his 30th birthday, lost his balance on a jump at 141 kph, fell on his back and lost his helmet. The race was interrupted while he was taken off the hill.

Organisers first said Macartney had regained consciousness before being taken to hospital but race doctor Ernst Raas later told reporters that was not the case. He said the American was suffering from severe concussion.

Doctors were examining the skier to decide whether he should be transferred to hospital in Innsbruck or kept in Kitzbuehel.

Training for the classic downhill on the Streif piste was marred by several crashes as the piste was very icy.

Macartney finished third in the Val Gardena downhill in December. He had previously been on a World Cup podium only once, in a super-G in Garmisch in January 2006.— Reuters