New Zealand's Finley Melville Ives is evacuated by a medical team in the freestyle skiing men's freeski halfpipe qualification run 2 during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games at Livigno Snow Park, in Livigno (Valtellina), on February 20, 2026. (Photo by Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP)
Livigno, Italy: New Zealand freestyle skier Finley Melville Ives was stretchered off on Friday after a hard fall during his second qualifying run for the halfpipe event at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics.
Ives, 19, the current world number one in the event, was treated by medical personnel after missing the landing of a jump, hitting the ice hard and losing his skis and poles.
The competition was suspended for several minutes until he was removed from the course on a stretcher.
It was the second serious crash in two days in freestyle skiing after Canada's Cassie Sharpe also required medical attention following a fall during the women's halfpipe qualifying on Thursday.
The 33-year-old, Olympic champion in 2018 and silver medallist four years ago, lay motionless for several minutes but waved to the crowd as she was carried off on a stretcher.
The Canadian Olympic Committee said she was in a "stable condition".
The halfpipe event carries a high level of risk as the skiers must perform a series of aerial tricks by propelling themselves off the edge of a semi-cylindrical course.
