Austrian Snowboarder Breaks Neck in Crash at Winter Olympics

It has been reported that an Austrian snowboarder broke his neck during a crash at the 2018 Winter [...]

By Stephen Andrew

It has been reported that an Austrian snowboarder broke his neck during a crash at the 2018 Winter Olympics.

As reported by USA Today, Markus Schairer damaged his fifth cervical vertebrae during one of the quarterfinal races in snowboard cross.

Somehow, 30-year-old Schairer still managed to eventually get back on his feet and finish the race.

Luckily, the Austrian Olympic committee released a statement detailing that while Schairer will be transported back to his homeland "as soon as possible" by medical personnel, he does not appear to show signs of "neurological impairment or long-term damage."

This is not Schairer's first snowboarding injury, as according to his Olympic profile he has three others in his past.

In 2013, Schairer "fractured a joint and tore four ligaments in his left shoulder after a fall in training at Lake Louise, AB, Canada."

Prior to that, in January of 2010, Schairer "broke five ribs in a fall in the quarterfinals of the Winter X Games in Aspen, Colorado."

Finally, his first reported injury happened in 2008 when he suffered a "ruptured cruciate ligament in his knee."

Schairer isn't the only snowboarder making headlines at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, China, as gold-medal snowboarder Shaun White recently made formal apology for calling sexual harassment allegations against him "gossip."

"I'm truly sorry that I chose the word gossip," White said. "It was a poor choice of words to describe such a sensitive subject in the world today. It's amazing how life works and twists and turns and lessons learned."

"Every experience in my life I feel like it's taught me a lesson and I definitely feel like I'm a much more changed person then I was when I was younger," he added.

The apology comes after White was asked about past sexual harassment allegations during a press conference following his third gold-medal win.

White dismissed the question and the allegations as "gossip," which drew the ire of many people.

The allegations stem from a 2016 lawsuit which was filed against him by a woman named Lena Zawaideh, who was the drummer in his band Bad Things. Zawaideh claimed that White sent her explicit messages and nude images of himself.

White did acknowledge the texts in a previous statement delivered through his lawyer, which read, "Many years ago, I exchanged texts with a friend who is now using them to craft a bogus lawsuit. There is absolutely no coincidence to the timing of her claims, and we will defend them vigorously in court."

Ultimately the lawsuit was settled out of court.

0comments
Start the Conversation

of