Snowboard Olympic champion Iouri Podladtchikov (Switzerland) fell heavily shortly before the start of the games in Pyeongchang. In the halfpipe finale of the X-Games on Sunday in Aspen, Colorado, he bumped his head against the wall of the halfpipe after an accident at a “Double Alley Oop Backside Rodeo” and then hit the floor.
According to the Swiss Ski Association Swiss Ski, the 29-year-old superstar suffered a concussion and nasal fracture.
Podladtchikov had initially remained motionless, but was taken care of by the immediate paramedics and brought to a hospital for further examinations.
His trainer Marco Bruni explained on the Swiss Ski homepage that it is “impossible to say”whether Podladtchikov will recover in time for the Olympic competition. The qualification of the halfpipe competition will take place on 12. February, the final one day later.
Podladtchikov won the gold medal in Sochi four years ago. It was not until this autumn that he made his comeback, after a rupture of the cruciate ligament in March 2017 at the World Championships in the Spanish Sierra Nevada – also following a crash at the “Double Alley Oop Backside Rodeo”.