Growing concerns over athlete safety have overshadowed the skiing events at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, as a series of violent crashes continues to shake the competition. What began as thrilling high-speed drama has turned into a worrying trend of injuries on the slopes, with New Zealand’s Fin Melville Ives the latest skier to suffer a serious accident.

The 19-year-old halfpipe world champion came into the Milan-Cortina Games as one of the leading favourites for a medal in the men’s freestyle skiing halfpipe. But his qualifying round quickly turned into a nightmare, with crashes in both runs, the second a particularly nasty fall. Ives lost control during a mid-air flip and landed heavily on his head.

Medical staff rushed to his aid as the crowd at Livigno’s alpine venue fell silent in shock. It was a distressing scene as Ives was stretchered off the course, ending his hopes of reaching the final. The setback will be hard to take for the teenage star, who arrived in Italy fresh off winning gold in the halfpipe at the X Games just last month.

Fellow skier Gus Kenworthy expressed concern for Ives following the crash and even dubbed him to be the “best pipe skier in the world.”

“I’m honestly devastated for him because I think Fin is the best pipe skier in the world right now, period,” the Brit said. “I know that he’s got plenty more Olympics in him. I have zero doubt that he’ll come back and get Olympic gold or something.”

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This time, heading into the event, the 19-year-old was among the top favourites, but a heavy fall in his second qualifying run ended his campaign sooner than expected. After crashing on his first attempt, Melville Ives knew he had to pull off something special in order to secure a spot in the final.

So he went big, launching into a massive five‑metre jump above the slope, only for it to unravel as his legs gave way on impact. Fans and spectators watched on, and the BBC live broadcast was forced to change the focus to a long-range shot as medics assisted the athlete.

The youngster’s fall was quite severe, and he appeared to be in a lot of pain after the incident. Fortunately, New Zealand head coach Tom Willmott has assured fans that Ives’ condition has significantly improved and is now doing fine.

“He took a big hit, didn’t he? We all saw that. He’s knocked out, but he’s conscious right now. He’s talking. He’s doing OK; he’s getting full checks, scans, x-rays, all the rest of it just to fully rule anything out. But yeah, I can let you know he’s doing OK.”

Ives’ accident has once again raised concerns over the skier’s safety at the Olympics.

The Winter Olympics has seen several crashes

The alpine skiing events in Milano Cortina opened with drama and grit, starring the legendary Lindsey Vonn. Just a week after crashing at Crans-Montana and tearing her ACL completely, the 41-year-old returned to chase Olympic gold. But her comeback ended heartbreakingly after she crashed only 13 seconds into the downhill final and had to be airlifted off the slope.

The chaos didn’t stop there. Andorra’s Cande Moreno twisted her knee in a fall as the last downhill competitor, adding to the day’s tally of accidents. Austria’s Nina Ortlieb also went down after leaning too hard into a corner, hitting a bump, and toppling over. She escaped injury but walked away frustrated after a tough, confidence-draining run.

Then came another shocker on February 20. American Nordic combined skier Ben Loomis narrowly avoided a disaster when he struck a leaf blower mid-launch during the team sprint. The equipment clipped his shoulder on the 120-meter drop, tearing his uniform but leaving him unharmed.

The events have proved to be nothing short of a horror show for fans and skiers at times due to the severe crashes. Though accidents are a part of the game, the organizers have completely failed to ensure athlete safety on multiple occasions.