Scott Macartney

Scott Macartney (born 19 January 1978 in Seattle, Washington) is an American alpine ski racer.

Macartney grew up in the Seattle area, in Redmond, where his parents were public school teachers. He skied at the Crystal Mountain ski area, located convert|76|mi|km southeast of Seattle, where his parents were members of the volunteer ski patrol on weekends. Macartney did not attend a ski academy, but graduated from Redmond High School in 1996 while working his way up through regional teams in the Northwest with limited funding. He attended Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, where he earned a bachelor's degree in economics. [http://www.skiracing.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1392&Itemid=47]

Macartney competed at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City and was the first racer on the course in the downhill event at Snowbasin, eventually finishing in 29th position. He reached his first World Cup podium finish on 29 January 2006 when he placed second at the Super G in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.

The following month he competed in the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, where he finished 16th in the men's combined, 15th in the downhill and 7th in the Super G at Sestriere.

On his 30th birthday in 2008, Macartney competed in the Hahnenkamm downhill in Kitzbühel. The second racer on the course, he had an excellent run going until he suffered a spectacular fall just five seconds from the finish line. After descending the high-speed "Zielschuss" section and reaching a speed of 87.7 mph (141.2 km/h), Macartney was challenging for a top ten finish. At the final jump ("Zielsprung"), he was twisted left while airborne and could not recover. During the high-speed crash he impacted hard on his right side; his skis released, as did his protective helmet after a direct impact with the icy course. He lost consciousness, then twisted and spun on the hard snow. Macartney came to a stop just across the finish line, arriving boots first and face down with his body quivering, ski pole straps still attached to his wrists. He received immediate medical attention and was airlifted by helicopter to a local hospital. He is said to have suffered bruising to the brain but did not require surgery at the time; he had been put in an induced coma. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/winter_sports/7197795.stm BBC Online] ] The next day he recovered more quickly than expected, regained consciousness, made jokes, and had doctors expecting a full recovery. [http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSL2073166420080120 Reuters Online] ] Despite crashing and sliding across the finish line unconscious without his skis or helmet, Macartney did not miss a gate. He finished the race in 33rd place with a time of 1:55.91, 3.16 seconds behind the winner, Didier Cuche. [http://www.fis-ski.com/uk/604/610.html?sector=AL&competitorid=11795&raceid=49906] Macartney's speed at the end of the "Zielschuss" was 87.7 mph (141.2 km/hr), the highest of the race. The next closest speed was 86.5 mph (139.2 km/hr) by Bode Miller, who came in tied for second.

Macartney recovered from his injuries and was named to the top team ("A Team") of the U.S. Ski Team for the 2008-09 World Cup season. [http://www.usskiteam.com/public/news.php?dId=2&aId=3764]

References

External links

* [http://www.scottmacartney.com Scott Macartney Official Website]
* [http://wcsnblogs.com/skiing/scottmacartney Macartney official blog]
* [http://www.nbcolympics.com/athletes/5057029/detail.html nbc olympics profile]
* [http://www.skiracing.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1392&Itemid=47 Ski Racing.com] - 29-Dec-2003
* [http://www.ski-db.com/db/profiles/mcrsc.asp ski-db profile]
* [http://www.usskiteam.com/public/team.php?sN=2&pA=2&dId=2&aId=87 U.S. Ski Team Bio]
* [http://mfile.akamai.com/22145/wmv/mlb.download.akamai.com/22145/2008/open/highlights/archive01/011908_fis_m_dh_macartney_crash2_350.wmv Video of Macartney's fall]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1m5Ww0_q5oE&feature=related YouTube video] - crash at the "Zielsprung" at Kitzbühel, takes 33rd - 19-Jan-2008

* [http://www.mtv3.fi/urheilu/alppihiihto/uutiset.shtml/arkistot/alppihiihto/2008/01/601931 Full story with pictures] fi