Croatian skier Ivica Kostelic on Sunday won a super-combined event in Sochi, Russia, winning a small Crystal Globe in the discipline and increasing his lead in the overall World Cup ranking.
His victory, however, came at a price.
Kostelic, who was in tears from the pain after being helped on to the podium, did not appear at the post-race media conference, having ben taken to hospital with a suspected knee injury.
Croatia's director of alpine skiing Vedran Pavlek told media: 'I apologise on behalf of Ivica, he doesn't feel good enough to speak.
'He injured his right knee during the second run, during which he felt a click in his knee', Pavlek said.
The news has blown the race for the World Cup overall title wide open.
With 15World Cup races remaining Kostelic is first in the overall ranking with 1,043 points, followed by Swiss Beat Feuz with 973 points and Marcel Hirscher of Austria with 825 points.
This was Kostelic's 24th World Cup victory of his career.
