When Matt Graham wobbled just before the final jump on the moguls course in Livigno on Tuesday, there was a sharp intake of breath.
Everyone at the base of the mountain knows the cost of a mistake in the vast majority of snow sport events.
Bones. Ligaments. Tendons: All are at risk of breaking, with dreams following soon after.
He got through, throwing himself over the jump with a assurity that years of often painful experiences gives him.
A journalist turned to me in the mix zone and said “at least he got down”.
As we were talking, a helicopter took off and exited the valley.
It turned out it was carrying Australian snowboard cross rider Cam Bolton, being airlifted to hospital in Milan after suffering a neck injury in training.
Australia’s 2036 Winter Olympics are turning into an injury hell with two athletes have been withdrawn from competition following injury.
Bolton has been ruled out of the Winter Olympics after sustaining two stable neck fractures. (Getty Images: Tim Clayton/Corbis)
Bolton sustained what was described as a serious injury during a fall on course at training on Monday 9 February.
It turned out that two stable neck fractures were identified by scans on Tuesday (local time) after he complained of continuing pain.
That news came as it was revealed that snowboard half pipe rider Misaki Vaughan was also out of the Games with a concussion.
She fell hard during training on Monday 9 February and failed a Head Injury Assessment on Tuesday.
She can’t compete for seven days. Her dream is over.
That’s the thing with winter sports.
They have the habit and tendency to break you.
This has come off the back of Laura Peel’s “serious” knee injury.
There have been no more details about the severity of the four-time Olympian’s injury but the absence of any details is arguably worse than being given a clear prognosis.
The feeling around the camp in Livigno is that she will be hard pushed to make it to the top of the aerials ramp in any sort of condition to compete, let alone win a medal.
Then there’s Daisy Thomas.
She re-injured her knee, which was already missing an ACL, during slopestyle training earlier in the week.
Thomas was said to have landed awkwardly on her previously injured right knee on the last jump of the run.
The MRI showed “minor additional damage” although the Australian Olympic Committee said that symptoms had settled “quickly” over a 48 hour period.
However, she is still going to be monitored ahead of the big air competition, set to get underway on Februray 14.
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