A New Zealand skier crashed hard during the men’s freeski halfpipe qualifications Friday morning and was stretchered off the course in what became another dangerous and tragic moment at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Finley Melville Ives was in his second run of the qualifications and was going big in an attempt to make the final when he landed hard and fell face first, leaving him unmoving on the course.
Medical staff rushed in immediately and, after several minutes, the 19-year-old was ultimately stretchered out as the crowd applauded him.
Teammates were in tears watching the scene unfold before them. Ives was considered a top contender in the event.
Commentators called the fall “such a hard slam” and said the tragic development was being felt by many in the freeski community.
In a later update, commentators said Ives was conscious and with his family in stable condition.
Teammates began dedicating their runs to him after the fall.
“Finley – this one’s for you brother,” Luca Harrington said into cameras before his second run.
The crash is one of several dangerous falls to occur during the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Lindsey Vonn’s big fall, which saw the legendary skier airlifted off the mountain and now undergoing numerous surgeries, marked the start of the crashes that would follow.
In women’s snowboarding halfpipe qualifying, China’s Liu Jiayu suffered a grisly fall when she caught an edge on her landing at the bottom of the course. Her head snapped to the ground and the momentum propelled her legs and back over her head — a wreck that’s called a “Scorpion” for the way it resembles the arachnid when its stinger is raised. Liu received treatment for a head injury but suffered no major injuries to her spine.
Australian snowboarder Cam Bolton took a nasty fall during a training mishap earlier in the Games, and despite reportedly walking away from the crash, he later had to be airlifted from the mountain with a broken neck.
Canadian snowboarder Mark McMorris suffered a concussion and pelvic injuries during a nasty fall in training on the big air course before the Games started.
McMorris said he caught a dreaded “snow snake” — some near-invisible chunk of snow or debris that wedges under the board — and took a tumble that led to an abdominal strain, some bruising at the top of his pelvis and the concussion but no fractures.
Check back for more on this developing story.
