Olympic champ Iouri Podladtchikov endures broken nose after terrifying wreck at Winter X Games

Olympic champ Iouri Podladtchikov endures broken nose after terrifying wreck at Winter X Games




Olympic champion snowboarder Iouri Podladtchikov hammered his face against the half pipe and must be hauled away the course Sunday at the Winter X Games in a mischance that gave a bumping take a gander at the stakes engaged with getting a gold-decoration run. 

Podladtchikov was taken to the healing center, where examines for mind and neck wounds returned negative. X Games authorities said he endured a broken nose and was conscious and alarm late Sunday night. 

The 29-year-old rider otherwise called the I-Pod was toward the finish of his second run, endeavoring to finish what had been a perfect and high-flying outing with a 1260-degree flip. As he was floating over into the pipe, he lost his course and his legs folded, at that point his face smacked against the lower some portion of the halfpipe divider and he slid, still, to the base. 

Restorative faculty took around 20 minutes to balance out Podladtchikov's neck and tie him into a sled to be taken to the healing center. 

"It was horrible. You don't generally know how he's doing," said eighth-put finisher Jake Pates, who was the following rider to pursue the damage. "He wasn't moving, there was a horde of individuals around him. You can't resist the urge to feel for him. Unquestionably gets your stomach turned, gets you in an abnormal head space." 

Instantly, considerations of Kevin Pearce, who endured horrible cerebrum damage amid a training in 2009, and of halfpipe skier Sarah Burke, who passed on in a training in 2012, rung a bell. This mishap wasn't as extreme, however the reality it occurred in a broadly broadcast challenge — the greatest this side of the Olympics — conveyed the risks of the halfpipe to the fore, just two weeks previously the Olympics. 

"It's a piece of it, without a doubt," said American Ben Ferguson, will's identity in Pyeongchang. "Individuals take burrows, and you simply must be keen about it. You know you go out on a limb and you simply do what you must do." 

Surely, not even the startle of the damage could prevent the riders from upping the ante in the last challenge before the vast majority of them go to South Korea for the Olympics.

Under 30 minutes after quiet encompassed the already rowdy halfpipe, Japan's Ayumu Hirano, the 2014 Olympic silver medalist, nailed a standout amongst the most overwhelming runs at any point seen — arriving consecutive 1440-degree turns on the way to a triumphant score of 99. 

It was I-Pod who handled the initial 1440 — the Yolo Flip — in a challenge. That was five years back with the Sochi Olympics drawing closer. Podladtchikov's accomplishment sent two-time Olympic champion Shaun White to work endeavoring to copy it. Before the finish of 2014, they were the main two riders to arrive it in an opposition. 

At Sunday's challenge alone, and with White back home in California viewing the occasion, there were three who could — Podladtchikov, Hirano and 17-year-old Toby Miller, who landed it twice on his way to a fifth-put wrap up. 

The individuals who weren't gunning for that trap were increasing the stakes in different ways. Australia's Scotty James, who will fight for the gold in Korea alongside White and Hirano, twice finished runs that included three variants of twofold stopper 1260, including the switch posterior 12, in which he rides in reverse into the mass of the pipe before taking off for two full turns. He completed second with a score of 98. 

"It sort of justifies itself," James said of his trap. "That is the reason nobody turns switch posterior in the halfpipe." 

James said he'll continue attempting his trap. Hirano and White will push on with their 1440s. Furthermore, if Sunday's challenge was any sign, the halfpipe challenge in Pyeongchang could be an all-clock. 

In any case, one that could go ahead without the shielding champion, Podladtchikov. 

"It nearly felt like I was the one getting hurt, too," Hirano said through an interpreter. "It put a little dread in me."