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Updated at 5:13 a.m., Sunday, February 1, 2009

Skiing: Albrecht's wake-up procedure stopped

Associated Press

INNSBRUCK, Austria — A persistent lung contraction forced doctors to stop a procedure to wake Swiss skier Daniel Albrecht from the induced coma he was put in following a World Cup downhill training crash 10 days ago.

The 25-year-old reigning super-combined world champion received artificial respiration to fight the contraction, the Innsbruck University hospital said in a statement on Sunday.

"For the past two days, doctors have tried to correct the contraction by a slight reduction of the coma," the hospital said. "The lung contraction, however, has not improved and Daniel Albrecht was put into a deeper coma again."

The lung contraction occurred Thursday following minor bleeding in the organ, which have since stopped, the hospital said. Albrecht will be kept in an induced coma until his lungs have sufficiently recovered.

Albrecht suffered brain and lung injuries following a crash in training for a race in Kitzbuehel, Austria.

Albrecht has two World Cup victories this season and four overall.