Winter Olympics: 'Unfair' ski-cross final leaves athletes furious following controversial yellow card

Sandra Näslund won her first ever Winter Olympic gold medal on Thursday as she raced to victory in the women’s ski-cross final in Beijing.

But the Swede’s win took a backseat as a controversial yellow card to decide who would take bronze instead stole the limelight.

Switzerland’s Fanny Smith was left seething after missing out on third place due to a penalty she picked up in the final stage of the race.

The Swiss racer crossed the finish line with a second consecutive bronze medal after also placing third at Pyeongchang 2018. However, she was issued a yellow card after a lengthy video review adjudged her to have impeded Daniela Maier behind her in fourth place.

The card relegated Smith from third to fourth, bumping the German onto the podium.

The replay of the incident saw second place Marielle Thompson land on Smith’s skis, which forced the Swiss off balance. Smith then clashed with Maier as she spread her skis to steady herself and avoid Thompson — a domino effect from the USA racer’s landing.