Pyeongchang: Ski cross is all about the spills and thrills, racers jockeying for pole position with elbows and sticks down a testing, jump-loaded course before a baying crowd.
But three horror crashes at the Pyeongchang Olympics have highlighted just how dangerous the high-octane event really is.
The freestyle skiing discipline made its Olympics debut in 2010 and features four skiers at a time racing side-by-side down a winding track encompassing both naturally occurring terrain and artificial features like sharp turns, rolls and a number of jumps.
It throws up some absolutely breathtaking racing.
Canada’s Brady Leman won the men’s ski cross while teammate Kelsey Serwa claimed gold in the women’s competition.
But those victories were bittersweet as compatriots India Sherret and Christopher Delbosco both sustained gruesome crashes.
Delbosco suffered a broken pelvis, four fractured ribs and a bruised lung, while Sherret was also stretchered off after her own particularly nasty landing off a jump.
“She was taken to hospital where she is being assessed. She is in stable condition,” the Canadian Olympic Committee said without giving further details.
France’s Terence Tchiknavorian also underwent surgery on a fractured tibia sustained in the men’s final.
