The skaters were competing hard in the Milano Ice Skating Arena when it suddenly fell silent. During the quarterfinal of the women’s 1500m short track speed skating, Poland’s Kamila Sellier got hit in the face and almost lost an eye. Amid panic, Konrad Niedźwiedzki, press attaché for the Polish speed skating team, emerged with an update.

“Kamila was conscious. She gave a thumbs up as she left the ice rink, so she’s conscious. She has a cut on her cheek, which was stitched up immediately. From what I saw, most likely her eyelid is also cut, half of it,” he said. “There is considerable swelling, so it’s hard to say at this point what else happened inside.”

“I hope these are only superficial wounds, but we have to wait for the test results from the hospital, where she has now been taken by the head of the medical mission, Dr. Hubert Krzysztawiak.”

According to him, her zygomatic or cheekbone may have also been broken due to the brutal hit. It is not clear now, as the skater has a huge swelling. While accidents are common in ice sports, this one was much worse.

Six laps were remaining in the sixth quarterfinal of the women’s 1500m short track when American skater Kristen Santos-Griswold attempted an inside pass. It was so close that it sent Sellier, Italy’s Arianna Fontana, and the U.S. speed skater herself tumbling on the ice. It was later deemed illegal due to a lane change that was performed late.

During the change, though, Santos-Griswold’s skate blade caught Sellier directly in the face, slicing above her left eye. The injury left a trail of blood on the ice, leaving the entire Milano Ice Skating Arena numb.

Immediately, medical staff rushed to the fallen skater with a large white sheet to shield her from the concerned crowd. The medical team gave her stitches on site due to the cut and a facial fracture before taking her to the hospital. Sellier managed to give a thumbs-up, which brought a sense of relief for the audience.

Her teammates were shaken by this incident. “My thoughts are with her. I can’t think of anything else,” Natalia Maliszewska said. Similarly, Gabriela Topolska shared, “These aren’t common accidents, but they do happen. Kamila already has one of them, from a skate on her face. Kamila has a cut in her skin with stitches.”

The Milan Olympics are becoming brutal by the day. Just yesterday, skier Cassie Sharpe was taken to a hospital as she fell face-first in a ski halfpipe qualifier. Australian snowboarder Cameron Bolton previously broke two cervical vertebrae.

On Friday, New Zealand freestyle skier Finley Melville Ives fell hard on landing in the halfpipe and hit his head. Ives is stable. Skier Lindsey Vonn was out of the Olympics in her very first race last week due to a complex tibial fracture.

While the finale ended brutally, the Milano Ice Skating Arena was a spectacle to watch.

A fantastic podium followed by the brutal crash at the Milan Winter Olympics

The women’s 1500m short track speed skating final at the Milan Cortina Olympics delivered a dramatic and emotional podium finish. Dutch athlete Antoinette Rijpma-de Jong captured her first career Olympic gold medal in the event, clocking 1 minute, 54.9 seconds and barely edging out Norway’s Ragne Wiklund by a mere 0.06 seconds.

“That’s the feeling that you love the most. That’s the feeling when you skate in (the Netherlands),” the Dutchwoman said. “I am so happy that so many people came to cheer us to the finish line. It was so loud. And it feels so good. It was really close, but it was enough—and that’s what’s important.”

Her Norwegian rival, Wiklund, too, had nothing but respect for her speed skating rival. “She has been performing so, so well for so many years. She knows what she’s doing,” she said.

Canada’s Valerie Maltais captured the bronze with a time of 1:54.40. However, for American Brittany Bowe, she missed out on a medal by just 0.30 seconds.

Overall, it was an eventful day for the audience at the Milano Ice Skating Arena. However, they eagerly await positive updates on Sellier and other injured athletes.