US ski star Nina O’Brien’s injury revealed after horror crash

The world held its breath when US skier Nina O’Brien crashed out just before crossing the finish line of the women’s giant slalom.

Nina O'Brien suffered a horrific injury. Photo: Instagram and Getty Images

Say what you want about the Winter Olympics, these people are brave.

While the sports aren’t as familiar as the Summer Olympics, particularly to Australian audiences, the injuries are real.

Although most people remember Stephen Bradbury as our first ever gold medallist, he is also known for losing four litres of blood during a race when a competitor’s blade sliced through his right thigh.

Aussie moguls star Matt Graham recovered from a broken collarbone just weeks out from the event.

There would be very few athletes at these games who haven’t had broken bones, ruptured ACLs or another other number of serious injuries which would threaten their careers.

And on Monday afternoon, Nina O’Brien had a horrific injury on the biggest stage possible.

Having gone sixth fastest in the opening run, the 24-year-old collided with the final gate and fell over the finish line before a 15 minute delay as the medical staff attended to her.

Pictures from the crash show the American’s ankle turned at 90 degrees and she was screaming in agony.

The extent of the injury has since been revealed by the athlete herself and it’s not good.

Taking to Instagram to thank well wishers, O’Brien revealed that she needed “surgery last night to stabilise my tibia, which unfortunately was an open fracture through my leg”.

The US Ski and Snowboard team revealed that she had “sustained a compound fracture of her left tibia and fibula”.

At least she has a smile on her face … Photo; Instagram

Ouch, that hurts. Photo: Instagram

She will now return to the US for further treatment.

O’Brien posted a series of photo of herself in a hospital bed on Instagram, including with the metal rods holding her leg in place

She wrote: “Well, I gave everything I had, and maybe too much.

“I keep replaying it in my head, wishing I’d skied those last few gates differently. But here we are.

“I want to say thank you to everyone who’s taken care of me, especially those who rushed to me in the finish and my doctors and nurses in Yanqing.

“I’m a little heartbroken, but also feeling so much love. Thank you to everyone who’s reached out. My phone is flooded with messages, and waking up to your words means more than you know. The good news is that today is a new day – and I get to cheer on my teammates. Good luck to everyone competing and enjoy it”.

US skiing has rallied around their stricken teammate, with two-time Olympic gold medallist Mikaela Shiffrin tweeting: “We are so heartbroken for Nina.”

Skiing legend Lindsey Vonn replied to the post writing: “Our hearts are with you”.

The distressing images led many people to continue to question the hardness of the man-made snow in Beijing.

Warning: Serious injury

Nina O’Brien’s race went terribly wrong. Photo by Jeff PACHOUD / AFP

Feet shouldn’t face that way. Photo by Joe KLAMAR / AFP

Having been labelled “bulletproof” earlier in the week, it has wreaked havoc.

CBS meteorologist Katie Nickolaou explained why it had been such tricky conditions.

“Something is seriously wrong with the snow at the Olympics … My heart goes out to Nina O’Brien,” she wrote. “I’ve never seen so many crashes during numerous different events …

“The area hosting the Olympics gets barely any snow annually. That isn’t necessarily a problem until you consider the extreme cold temperatures the area also experiences … That means man-made snow turns to a sheet of ice instead of individual crystals. Very dangerous …”

Just back from watching Team USA's Nina O'Brien push to stay in contention in the women's giant slalom -- then crash, in gruesome fashion, just a gate from the finish. More than a dozen people tended to her. Teammate Paula Moltzan was so shaken she wouldn't address it. So tough.

— Barry Svrluga (@barrysvrluga) February 7, 2022

That Nina O’Brien crash was brutal. What is up with this snow!?

— Harris Peskin (@HarrisPeskin) February 7, 2022

Terrible crash by Nina O’Brien towards the end of her second run in Giant Slalom. Hope she’s okay.

— Jackie Spiegel (@jackiespiegel93) February 7, 2022