Both of our top women’s giant slalom skiers are down for the country.
Defending gold medalist Mikaela Shiffrin went out after missing a gate, but she was not hurt.
Sadly, the same cannot be said for Nina O’Brien.
Horrific Crash
The video of the crash was bad enough, but the still shots were enough to bring up a bile burp.
Shiffrin going down was heartbreak enough for the U.S., but at least she was not hurt.
The next best chance the U.S. had for a medal was Nina O’Brien.
She was well on her way to a podium finish when she got caught up in a gate just before the finish line.
Her leg appeared to get hooked, she went down, and her left leg contorted in what can be described as nothing short of horrific…
Scary crash! US skier Nina O’Brien injured her left leg in a crash. She was taken off the slopes in a stretcher but was alert and responsive pic.twitter.com/vRIu9LECVV
— John Rogers (@JohnRogers7News) February 7, 2022
The only solace here is that O’Brien was responsive and seemingly in good spirits when she was taken off the hill on a stretcher.
The United States Ski Team stated, “She is very tough and was calm.
“She’s a fighter. She was worried about delaying the race.
“And also she wanted to know how fast she was skiing.”
These crashes can sometimes seem more devastating in real-time than they are after an evaluation, but I would imagine that this will be a long recovery for O’Brien.
Based on just the look of it, I doubt we will be seeing her on the slopes anytime soon.
Get well, Nina.