American skier Nina O’Brien crashed Monday during the women’s giant slalom event at the Beijing Winter Olympics, with medical staff carrying the skier away on a stretcher after the high-speed wipe out.
“Nina O’Brien crashed into the finish but she is alert and responsive,” the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Team said in a tweet. “She was worried about delaying the race. And also she wanted to know how fast she was skiing. What a trooper,” the team added in a follow-up tweet.
WATCH:
Scary crash! US skier Nina O’Brien injured her left leg in a crash. She was taken off the slopes in a stretcher but was alert and responsive pic.twitter.com/vRIu9LECVV
— John Rogers (@JohnRogers8News) February 7, 2022
Footage of the crash shows O’Brien hitting one of the final gates before the 24-year-old athlete appears to lose control of her equipment. O’Brien tumbled down the hill before sliding to a stop, where medical staff ran out to carry the injured athlete off on a stretcher. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Coaches Warn US Athletes To Not Protest At Beijing Olympics)
Out of four U.S. competitors, O’Brien was the third to fail to complete Monday’s two-run race, according to Yahoo Sports. U.S. skier Mikaela Shiffrin, who was the event’s defending gold medal champion, was disqualified after falling during the event’s opening run Monday.
“We are so heartbroken for Nina… she showed so much heart and fire in her skiing today, and it all got shredded to pieces on the final turn,” Shiffrin wrote on Twitter. “This sport… this sport is SO damn hard. It’s brutal, and it hurts- far more often than it ever feels good.”