BBC quickly cuts Winter Olympic broadcast after gold medal favourite in horror crash
The Winter Olympics contains several somewhat dangerous events where the athletes put themselves at risk of serious physical harm.
At the men's freestyle skiing halfpipe qualifiers there was plenty of attention on world champion Finley Melville Ives of New Zealand, but on his second run he suffered a painful crash with medics rushing over.
Melville Ives had fallen in his first run on the qualifiers and the New Zealand athlete needed to pull out something impressive during his second attempt, with him going for a high jump above the slope.
Unfortunately for the Winter Olympic skier his legs gave way on the way down and he collapsed.
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"Oh, no, no, no. You don’t want to see a final where you don’t have everyone there," the BBC commentator said live on air with cameras swiftly cutting away from the scene of the crash to avoid focusing on the stricken athlete receiving treatment.
"When the favourite goes down like this, it’s so so difficult to watch. It is an awful reminder of just how brutal this discipline is.
"They are pushing the limits, the fine line between crashing out and putting down a perfect run."
The co-commentator said: "This is a heartbreaking moment for halfpipe skiing in 2026. Everyone was so excited to see him show the world what he can do and raise the level of the other boys."
Melville Ives was stretchered away for further treatment with Team New Zealand releasing a statement saying the skier had taken a 'heavy knock' but was conscious and talking to his mum.
They said: "For those asking, Fin is with his family and being assessed by medical professionals. He is stable and positive. Thanks for the love."
His injury is another reminder of the risk the Winter Olympic athletes are putting themselves at to compete.
Pretty much all sports come with a risk of injury, even chess players might pull something in their arm while moving a piece, but the Winter Olympic events are particularly dangerous.
You only need to ask Lindsey Vonn, who suffered a horrific crash earlier in the games and has since been showing off her 'bionic leg' from the resulting surgery.
Don't worry, they haven't needed to amputate the leg, but she has had metal plates put in as a result of a complex tibia fracture in her left leg.
The Team USA skier had competed at the Winter Olympics despite suffering an ACL tear just days earlier, so she went into the games injured and left them even more so.
Topics: Winter Olympics, Sport
Joe Harker