A lot has been made about the dangerous characteristics and design of the skiing and snowboarding facilities at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, at least that they seemed more dangerous than previous years. Specifically, the slopestyle course was a huge topic of concern for the snowboarders, as Shaun White shocked everyone by dropping out of the event almost two weeks ago. As for the skiers, Saturday was a remarkably scary day with Russia’s Maria Komissarova breaking her back during training and three other skiers suffering injuries that same day. Yesterday, Team Great Britain also had a huge scare when 18-year old freestyle skier Rowan Cheshire suffered a seemingly serious injury in training on the halfpipe.
During her exercise, Cheshire landed face first on one of the walls of the halfpipe and was knocked out for several minutes. Doctors would later determine that she had suffered a concussion, all but ending her hopes at the Sochi Games. In fact, according to The Guardian, if Cheshire actually competes in the halfpipe event on Thursday, she’ll be doing so under medical clearance that would be a direct violation of International Ski Federation rules regarding concussions.
In the meantime, it’s nice to see that Cheshire is at least in good spirits, as she Tweeted a selfie of her banged up face with a message of thanks to her fans.
