Accident Seriously Injures Brazilian Olympic Hopeful

The Olympic dream came to an unfortunate end for a Brazilian skier who could’ve been one of the few Latin American athletes to participate in the upcoming Winter Games.

Lais Souza underwent spine surgery on Wednesday after suffering an accident while training in Salt Lake City on Monday.  She was in an intensive care unit at a University of Utah hospital, awake and breathing with the help of a ventilation machine.

Souza entered the hospital with minimal sensation from her neck down, and was only able to communicate using her eyes and by moving her head.  She reportedly moved her shoulders slightly yesterday, which is a positive sign prior to the additional surgeries she will have to undergo this week.

”Lais has a long recovery process in front of her,” Team Brasil doctor Antonio Marttos said, according to a statement from the Brazilian Olympic Committee. ”A long-term prognostic cannot be predicted at this time. Her medical team is doing everything possible to allow her to have the best recovery possible.”

Souza participated as a gymnast in the 2004 and 2008 Olympics yet took up aerial skiing roughly six months ago.  Before that neither she or training partner Joselane Rodrigues dos Santos had ever skied and Souza had only seen snow once in her life.

“This was the worst thing that could’ve happened to her,” said Ryan Snow, Souza’s Canadian-born coach who discovered her and Santos during a trial last May.  Snow said in a Brazilian TV interview that he was observing the technique of the two women during a training exercise when he suddenly “heard a noise” and saw that Souza had crashed into a tree.

Today’s Video: Mexico’s Paralympics hope

Tonight we end our video theme of Latino and Latin American athletes who will be competing at this month’s Winter Games with a look at the Paralympics.

This tenth version of the Winter Paralympics will be held next month in Vancouver and will include sports such as wheelchair curling and sledge hockey. The lone Latin American representatives come from Mexico: alpine skiers Arly Velásquez and Armando Ruiz. Both will compete in the slalom and giant slalom and, as you can see in the following video, Ruiz demonstrates his prowess on the “monoski”:

This week’s videos:

• Monday – Hubertus von Hohenlohe (Mexico)
• Tuesday – Isabel Clark Rebeiro (Brazil)
• Wednesday – Errol Kerr (Jamaica)
• Thursday – Jennifer Rodriguez (U.S.)
  

Online Sources- The Latin Americanist, El Universal, Vancouver 2010 Paralympics, YouTube

Today’s Video: Mexico’s skiing prince

The latest edition of the Winter Olympics will start this Friday in Vancouver, Canada. Though some indigenous groups from the Americas have protested the upcoming games, athletes from several Latin American states will be participating in Vancouver this month. We will highlight a few of those competitors this week.

After skipping over the 2006 games, Mexico will have a very unique lone representative at this year’s games. At the age of fifty-one Prince Hubertus von Hohenlohe will represent Mexico in the men's slalom. The descendent of Austrian royalty, von Hohenlohe is also a photographer, musician and founder of the Mexican Ski Federation.

Don’t believe me? Then watch this:

Online Sources- Hubertus von Hohenlohe’s website, no2010.com, Canadian Press, YouTube