Rahlves goes down hard in Winter X Games wreck

ASPEN, Colo. -- U.S. Olympic freestyle skier Daron Rahlves dislocated his right hip after a nasty wreck in his opening skicross race Sunday at the Winter X Games.

The injury is a setback as Rahlves prepares to compete in Vancouver, but a doctor who checked him out at the scene was optimistic after the crash that resulted in the 36-year-old's fourth hip dislocation.

"People who have multiple hip dislocations, the tissues get so loose and go in and out and it doesn't cause so much damage," said Dr. Kevin Stone, who looked in on Rahlves after the wreck. "Hopefully, that's the situation here and hopefully he can come back quickly."

A few hours after the accident, X Games officials said the hip had been popped back into place, and that Rahlves was putting pressure on it. He was released from the hospital late Sunday afternoon.

Rahlves, a former Alpine skier, qualified for his fourth Olympic team this year and was using the X Games as a final tuneup before the trip to Vancouver.

In his opening race, though, he lost his balance while going over a series of small bumps midway down the mountain and went flying off the course.

Earlier in the week, America's other skicross Olympian, Casey Puckett, landed awkwardly during a run and suffered what he called a minor setback in his recovery from a separated shoulder.