Injured Ierodiaconou out of Turin Games
It was a scream that pierced the frigid night air and it signalled the end of Lydia Ierodiaconou's Winter Olympics.
Clasping her left knee and writhing in pain, Ierodiaconou - considered Australia's best chance of a medal in the freestyle aerials - had misjudged the landing in her second jump of the qualifying competition.
Worse still, the knee which she'd had repaired just eight months earlier was blown out again.
She is expected to spend at least a year out of the sport, if she indeed decides to continue.
But as is often the fickle nature of a brutal, injury-prone sport, there was a counterpoint.
Moments before the 24-year-old crashed out, exultant teammate Jacqui Cooper had been smiling and celebrating her unexpected first place in qualifying.
Cooper, who had not won a World Cup event in four years, pulled out two of her best jumps to qualify with a world record score of 213.36 ahead of Chinese pair Xuo Gin Gin (204.87) and pre-competition favourite Li Nina (188.93).
Yet she immediately shared Ierodiaconou's pain, crouching to the ground and blocking her ears to the noises her teammate was making.
After two years out of the sport following a similar injury sustained in training before the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics of 2002, she understood.
Team doctor Peter Braun, who was on the scene for Cooper's horrific injury, did as well.
"I think the first scream we heard was the instantaneous pain as it (the anterior cruciate ligament) tore and the second one when she realised instantly what she had done," he said.
"She said she heard a crack or felt a snap and the rest was the realisation of the impact that this would have to her competition."
It had been a rollercoaster evening of emotions for the Australians, with Cooper's brilliance and Ierodiaconou's hard luck interspersed with defending Games champion Alisa Camplin's own personal battle.
After going over the handlebars on her first jump Camplin needed an almost flawless second, and just about got it to finish in 10th place and qualify for the 12-woman final.
On any other night Camplin - who had made a miraculous recovery from knee surgery herself in October - would have been the focus but the drama surrounding Ierodiaconou was palpable.
She had been in a plumb position to qualify, sitting in third place after her first jump with a personal high score of 101.52.
Performing the second of her triple twisting double somersaults, Ierodiaconou looked clean in the air but overshot the landing, wrenching her left leg.
Coach Todd Ossian was first to her assistance as he came sprinting down the landing hill and he was soon joined by team doctor Peter Braun and local medicos.
She was taken from the site in an ambulance with mother Phyllis, Braun and boyfriend and former Finnish moguls star Lauri Lassila but returned to the team hotel with her parents that night - the bizarre reality of the injury being that doctors can do very little in the initial instance.
An emotional Ossian could barely get his head around the events of the evening.
"I was just about feeling as good as you could feel after a semi-final," Ossian said.
"I wish I could say I felt the same way now.
"Lydia is one of the greatest people I have ever met in my whole life. I love her to death. She works so hard she is an incredible jumper. She did everything that she could possibly do to put herself in a position to win here.
"I just feel terrible for her.
"Why did this have to happen - and Lydia was saying the same thing to me at the bottom of the hill."
Ierodiaconou had undergone radical allograft surgery - where the tendon in her knee was replaced with that of a donor cadaver - in June and then began an arduous campaign just to be ready for the Games.
She won her comeback World Cup event in Deer Valley last month and was considered the most likely Australian medallist because Camplin seemed more underdone and Cooper's form was so scratchy.
Amazingly, Ierodiaconou still finished in 14th place less than five points and two spots out of the final.
The other Australian in qualifying, Liz Gardner, finished a disappointing 23rd.
© 2006 AAP
It was a scream that pierced the frigid night air and it signalled the end of Lydia Ierodiaconou's Winter Olympics.
Clasping her left knee and writhing in pain, Ierodiaconou - considered Australia's best chance of a medal in the freestyle aerials - had misjudged the landing in her second jump of the qualifying competition.
Worse still, the knee which she'd had repaired just eight months earlier was blown out again.
She is expected to spend at least a year out of the sport, if she indeed decides to continue.
But as is often the fickle nature of a brutal, injury-prone sport, there was a counterpoint.
Moments before the 24-year-old crashed out, exultant teammate Jacqui Cooper had been smiling and celebrating her unexpected first place in qualifying.
Cooper, who had not won a World Cup event in four years, pulled out two of her best jumps to qualify with a world record score of 213.36 ahead of Chinese pair Xuo Gin Gin (204.87) and pre-competition favourite Li Nina (188.93).
Yet she immediately shared Ierodiaconou's pain, crouching to the ground and blocking her ears to the noises her teammate was making.
After two years out of the sport following a similar injury sustained in training before the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics of 2002, she understood.
Team doctor Peter Braun, who was on the scene for Cooper's horrific injury, did as well.
"I think the first scream we heard was the instantaneous pain as it (the anterior cruciate ligament) tore and the second one when she realised instantly what she had done," he said.
"She said she heard a crack or felt a snap and the rest was the realisation of the impact that this would have to her competition."
It had been a rollercoaster evening of emotions for the Australians, with Cooper's brilliance and Ierodiaconou's hard luck interspersed with defending Games champion Alisa Camplin's own personal battle.
After going over the handlebars on her first jump Camplin needed an almost flawless second, and just about got it to finish in 10th place and qualify for the 12-woman final.
On any other night Camplin - who had made a miraculous recovery from knee surgery herself in October - would have been the focus but the drama surrounding Ierodiaconou was palpable.
She had been in a plumb position to qualify, sitting in third place after her first jump with a personal high score of 101.52.
Performing the second of her triple twisting double somersaults, Ierodiaconou looked clean in the air but overshot the landing, wrenching her left leg.
Coach Todd Ossian was first to her assistance as he came sprinting down the landing hill and he was soon joined by team doctor Peter Braun and local medicos.
She was taken from the site in an ambulance with mother Phyllis, Braun and boyfriend and former Finnish moguls star Lauri Lassila but returned to the team hotel with her parents that night - the bizarre reality of the injury being that doctors can do very little in the initial instance.
An emotional Ossian could barely get his head around the events of the evening.
"I was just about feeling as good as you could feel after a semi-final," Ossian said.
"I wish I could say I felt the same way now.
"Lydia is one of the greatest people I have ever met in my whole life. I love her to death. She works so hard she is an incredible jumper. She did everything that she could possibly do to put herself in a position to win here.
"I just feel terrible for her.
"Why did this have to happen - and Lydia was saying the same thing to me at the bottom of the hill."
Ierodiaconou had undergone radical allograft surgery - where the tendon in her knee was replaced with that of a donor cadaver - in June and then began an arduous campaign just to be ready for the Games.
She won her comeback World Cup event in Deer Valley last month and was considered the most likely Australian medallist because Camplin seemed more underdone and Cooper's form was so scratchy.
Amazingly, Ierodiaconou still finished in 14th place less than five points and two spots out of the final.
The other Australian in qualifying, Liz Gardner, finished a disappointing 23rd.
© 2006 AAP
