During the women’s halfpipe qualification in Livigno, Chinese snowboarder Liu Jiayu (33) suffered a serious injury after falling and lying on the ground for several minutes.
Liu Jiayu is not just any athlete. She won the silver medal at the 2018 Olympics. During the second round, the Chinese snowboarder was trying to gain enough time to qualify in the top 12 and thus advance to the finals when, on the very last jump, her board caught the snow unnaturally in a split second, throwing her forward on landing and causing her to completely lose control.
The impact was violent, and the athlete, landing first on her left shoulder, then hit the snow with her neck and head. The music stopped immediately on the competition track in Livigno and the race was suspended for 10 minutes. It took the medical staff about 8 minutes to treat Jiayu, immobilize her and then move her on a stretcher outside the sports facility for emergency transport to the hospital.
The crowd greeted her with thunderous applause, breaking the silence. The race was immediately resumed until the end of the qualifying round for the final scheduled for tomorrow at Snow Park in Livigno, starting at 19:30 local time. There are currently no updates on the Chinese athlete as concerns about her condition grow.
Australian snowboarder Bolton, hospitalized with two fractured vertebrae
A terrible fall during training on Monday, followed by excruciating neck pain and the diagnosis of a serious injury, suffered Australian snowboarder Cam Bolton, who was airlifted to Milan.
A CT scan revealed a double fracture of the cervical vertebrae. The Australian Olympic Committee made the official announcement.
According to the team’s mission leader Alisa Camplin, Bolton was in good spirits despite the severity of his injury and was accompanied to Milan by his wife.
The 35-year-old from Clayton Bay was preparing to compete in his fourth snowboardcross Olympics. He finished 13th four years ago in Beijing, with one win and three World Cup podiums to his credit. Bolton is coming off a superb season which culminated in his first World Championship medal.
It is the fourth injury to Australia’s team, with ski jumping medal favorite Laura Peel injuring her knee during a pre-Olympic training camp, while young freeride skier Daisy Thomas suffered a knee injury in a fall.
Olympic snowboard halfpipe champion Misaki Vaughan suffered a head injury during training on Monday.
A few days ago, the valuable American skier Lindsey Vonn (41 years old) was seriously injured during the race.
