Winter Olympics: American skier gives incredible response after crashing and being stretchered off

American skier Nina O’Brien is ‘alert and responsive’ after suffering a heavy crash at the Winter Olympics and just wanted to know if she was going fast enough to win a medal.

O’Brien lost her balance towards the end of the course in the women’s giant slalom race, colliding with the penultimate gate and crashing over the finish line.

The 24-year-old was treated by a number of medics for almost 10 minutes before the emergency services dragged her away on a stretcher.

Her rivals were visibly shocked by the crash but the USA team insist she is okay and say the ‘very tough’ skier was even in a frame of mind to worry about her time.

‘Nina O’Brien crashed into the finish but she is alert and responsive,’ a US team spokesperson said.

‘She is very tough and was calm. She’s a fighter. She was worried about delaying the race. And also she wanted to know how fast she was skiing.’

Five time British Olympic skier Graham Bell added on BBC Two: ‘It’s really tough when you get a crash like that just puts the race on hold but the ski racers are used to it, they’ve been through this before.

<p lang=«en» dir=«ltr» xml:lang=«en»>Nina OâBriens crash. Eeeeek #Beijing2022WinterOlympics pic.twitter.com/4J1890T2GC

‘You’ve got to just keep focused and go through that pre-race plan.’

O’Brien, who resides in Colorado, is taking part in her first Olympic Games, following two appearances at the World Championships in 2019 and 2021.

She was sixth ahead of her second run in Beijing and said her opening effort was ‘really fun’, with the hill in ‘perfect shape’.

When the race resumed, Sweden’s Sara Hector claimed the gold medal in her third Olympic appearance, with Italy’s Federica Brignone winning silver and Lara Gut-Behrami taking bronze.

Great Britain’s Alex