It was a road Kelsey Serwa had no desire to travel down again during her skiing career.
As it is, a recurrence of last year’s serious knee injury has sidelined the 23-year-old ski cross racer from Kelowna for the remainder of the 2012-13 season.
Serwa hurt her left knee in training on March 10 in advance of the world championships in Voss, Norway.
Subsequent tests have revealed she had suffered a torn ACL—on the same knee she injured last year—and she will once again require surgery to repair the damage.
A time frame for her expected return to the snow is not known.
Serwa needed just one more top-16 result to pre-qualify for the 2014 Olympics Sochi. The team is currently reviewing how her injury status will affect the qualification process.
“She’s our best girl and when she’s healthy she’s the favourite every day,” Canadian head coach Eric Archer said of Serwa. “When one of your top racers goes down it’s tough for the whole team.”
Serwa was enjoying a solid season on the World Cup circuit with gold medal wins in Sochi and Italy, and a silver medal in Megeve, France.
She is currently fourth in the overall World Cup standings.
“We were all pretty shocked,” Canadian teammate Marielle Thompson said of Serwa’s injury. “It was really frustrating . . . but she will be back.”
