Ina-Dungjen elbowed out of worlds

 MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Jason Dungjen's world is spinning, which is fine for a figure skater. Except when off the ice.
 Dungjen has a concussion and a broken bone above the eye that forced him and partner Kyoko Ina to withdraw from the World Figure Skating Championships. He was injured at practice when Ina's elbow caught him flush on the forehead during a triple twist.
 The timing was especially distressing because the two-time U.S. champions had a strong shot at a medal in this event, which began Tuesday with the short program.
 Ina and Dungjen finished fourth at the Olympics and the bronze medalists, Germany's Mandy Wotzel and Ingo Steuer -- the defending world champions -- withdrew because of Steuer's shoulder injury.
 But Dungjen said Tuesday he is in no shape to skate after giving it a try a day earlier.
 "After 10 minutes on the ice, I lost 30 percent of my peripheral vision," said Dungjen, who was sporting a lightly discolored right eye. "If I'm standing for a while, the floor seems to start moving.
 "I'm just trying to clear my thoughts. I've never been hit that hard before. We're athletes and we get hurt. I can deal with the pain. What I can't deal with is spinning rooms."
 Dungjen was hurt Sunday evening when he tossed Ina into the air for the triple twist. Her elbow slammed into his head and both of them heard a "crunching sound."
 At first, Dungjen feared it was Ina's arm, especially when she lost feeling in three of her fingers. Ina still doesn't have full mobility in her left arm after striking her ulna nerve on Dungjen's head.
 "I've hit Jason a few times before and always felt some pain," Ina said. "I thought I hit the funny bone and the three fingers went numb. I still don't have full feeling or mobility, but Jason's condition is much worse."
 U.S. team physician Dr. Angela Smith said Ina sustained a contusion of the triceps muscle while Dungjen has a mild concussion. He never lost consciousness, but by the time he left the ice he was dizzy.
 "The pain has not been too tremendous," he said. "Basically, I'm laying down a lot."
 The couple has been chasing a medal at worlds since 1995, when Ina and Dungjen placed fourth in a series of international events. They showed at Nagano just how much they've closed the gap on the top Russians, even beating one Russian pair.
 With a strong performance in Minneapolis, both felt capable of challenging Olympic champions Oksana Kazakova and Artur Dmitriev and runners-up Yelena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze.
 "We're extremely disappointed we couldn't finish the season on a high note," Ina said. "It's devastating, especially hosting the world championships in our country."
 Dungjen admitted such woes are part of the trade.
 "It's something that happens," he said. "You play with knives, you're going to get cut."