Former world champion Alexandra Meissnitzer sustained a knee injury on Saturday after the Austrian suffered a heavy crash in a World Cup downhill race in Aspen, Colorado.

Meissnitzer, gold medalist of giant slalom and super-G at the 1999 world championships in Vail, tumbled on a flat section of the course and after receiving medical treatment on the course she was taken away on a stretcher.

No details were released as the Austrian team spokesman Manfred Kimmel told reporters about Meissnitzer's left knee injury.

The downhill, the first for women at Aspen since 1988, was rescheduled from Friday after heavy snow in the Colorado resort.