MEN'S SNOWBOARD: KLUG BEATS ODDS AGAIN ONCE NEAR DEATH, HE WINS BRONZE AFTER TRANSPLANT.

Byline: Steve Dilbeck Staff Writer

PARK CITY, Utah - There was a time, not very long ago, when Chris Klug had other things on his mind besides an Olympic snowboarding medal. Things that made his great dream feel small.

``I thought I was going to die for sure,'' Klug said.

Yet less than two years after he received a life-saving liver transplant, Klug completed a remarkable comeback with a bronze medal in Friday's snowboarding parallel giant slalom and felt very much alive.

Shortly after sliding past France's Nicolas Huet for the bronze that pushed the U.S. total to an all-time Winter Olympics high of 14 medals, he rushed over a pair of net fences to embrace his family, girlfriend and acrowd of well-wishers from Denver that numbered over 50.

``There were times two years ago, we were just worried about staying alive,'' girlfriend Missy April said. ``The lowest point for both of us was waiting for the liver. Thinking about an Olympic medal was the last thing on our minds.''

Klug's recovery has been of storybook proportions. On a day when the top three qualifiers were eliminated in the first round, Klug advanced to the semifinals, where he was defeated by eventual gold medalist Phillipp Schoch of Switzerland. Sweden's Richard Richardsson took the silver.

Klug had a narrow lead of .15 seconds after the first of the two runs for the bronze, and he again nipped Huet in the second, and final, 1,791-foot trip down the hill, winning with an overall margin of .31 seconds.

``It wasn't without drama, though,'' Klug said. ``It would only be appropriate that my boot broke or something went south in the final run. I ended up snapping a buckle on the boot on my first run against Nicolas.

``I ended up jerry-rigging a piece of metal and some duct tape to make it work. It wasn't perfect. I just ended up saying, `Ah, if this was going to decide whether I took third or fourth, the heck with it.' ''

Klug, 29, had been through enough the past few years that he wasn't going to let a little buckle slow him down. In 1993, he was diagnosed with a rare liver disease called primary sclerosing cholangitis, the same illness that killed Chicago Bears great Walter Payton.

He went on a waiting list for a transplant, and waited. Six years passed, and he remained on the list. Finally, his pain increased and his liver began to fail.

``There's more than 8,000 people on the transplant lists across the country right now, and I think 16 people a day die,'' Klug said. ``And being on the waiting list is one of the scariest things I've ever gone through. I thought I was going to be one of those 16.''

But in June 2000, after a 13-year-old boy was accidentally shot to death, Klug got his transplant in a six-hour operation at the University of Colorado.

``The minute I woke up, I knew I was better,'' he said. ``Obviously I was on some drugs that were making me feel pretty wacky, but I was real confident when I woke up. You could just feel it, that something was different and better.''

Seven weeks later, he was back on the slopes, sailing over hills at speeds exceeding 60 mph. Slowly, he regained his strength and soon again visited podiums. This season, he regained the U.S. national championship.

On Friday, he was an Olympic medal winner.

``Every family that has been part of a donor should be proud, should share in this, and know that it saves lives,'' said his father, Warren Klug.

Chris Klug has become a spokesman for organ donors and transplants and realized he if could perform well at the Olympic Games it would give him an even larger platform.

``I knew if I did well here and was able to come home with a medal, that would certainly help getting the life-saving message of organ transplantation, organ donation, out there,'' he said. ``That's been a big goal of mine since my successful transplant, with the donor family giving me a second chance. I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for them.''

The only U.S. woman who advanced out of qualifying Thursday, Lisa Kosglow, won her opening match but lost in the second round to Karine Ruby of France. Ruby won the silver, losing the gold to national teammate Isabelle Blanc. Italy's Lidia Trettel took the bronze.

The same as Klug.

``Bronze, it's a victory for me,'' he said.

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Two years after a liver transplant saved his life, Chris Klug won an Olympic bronze medal.

Peter DeJong/Associated Press