Team USA skier Nina O’Brien recovering from harrowing crash near finish line of giant slalom race

Team USA skier Nina O’Brien suffered a harrowing crash while competing in the women’s giant slalom race – one of the most dangerous events at the Winter Olympics.

Ms O’Brien, 24, was on her second run in Beijing on Monday when she came in contact with the penultimate gate and careened out of control, her skis coming off as she slid across the finish line.

Onlookers held their breath as the medal contender – who was in sixth place after her first run – was carted away on a stretcher.

The US Ski & Snowboard Team later took to Twitter to confirm that Ms O’Brien is “alert and responsive”.

“She is very tough and was calm. She’s a fighter,” a spokesperson for the organisation said. “She was worried about delaying the race. And also she wanted to know how fast she was skiing.”

Photos of the crash aftermath showed Ms O’Brien clutching her left leg in pain with her ankle at an unnatural angle.

This was O’Brien’s first time competing in the Olympics, coming in ranked 24th in the world in the giant slalom.

Her devastating knock-out came after her teammate Mikaela Shiffrin also suffered a crash while aiming to defend her gold medal title from 2018 Olympics.

Ms Shiffrin was slated to become the first American alpine skier to win three gold medals when she fell at the fifth gate of her first run on Monday.

After a minuscule mistiming on her left-turning ski caused her to lose balance, the 26-year-old said: “I won’t ever get over this.

“That heartbreak never goes away and I think that’s what drives me to keep working. Sometimes they still happen and unfortunately it happened today.”

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