Images as impressive and frightening as ever. The halfpipe qualifications for the Milan-Cortina Olympic Games were marked by the heavy fall of one of the competitors, Finley Melville Ives, the reigning world champion, this Friday morning.
After a failed first run, the New Zealand skier, candidate for the gold medal, fell heavily in the middle of his second run. The 19-year-old athlete landed on his skis before crashing to the ground and sliding on his back for several meters.
Unable to move, Melville Ives was rescued by trainers and then evacuated on a stretcher at the bottom of the track, to the applause of the public. The New Zealander’s state of health is not yet known.
These chilling images are unfortunately reminiscent of other incidents that took place during several events of the Winter Games.
On February 15, Finnish Elias Lajunen was also evacuated on a stretcher after violently falling on his back in big air, while on Thursday, double Canadian Olympic medalist Cassie Sharpe hit the ground with her head.
In the first run of these halfpipe qualifications on Friday, Frenchman Vincent Maharavo was the first skier to suffer a fall, fortunately not serious.
