2022 Olympics: U.S. skier Nina O'Brien 'alert and responsive' after brutal giant slalom crash

Not long after Mikaela Shiffrin, the top U.S. woman in the giant slalom at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, fell on her first run Monday, dropping her from contention in the event, Nina O'Brien, Team USA's top women's giant slalom skier after Shiffrin, suffered what looked like a painful crash with just one gate left in the second run. O'Brien appeared to have seriously injured her leg, and she was carried off on a stretcher. Swiss skier Lara Gut-Behrami covered her mouth from the finish area while Norway's Ragnhild Mowinckel bowed her head.

U.S. Ski & Snowboard tweeted that O'Brien was "alert and responsive" and being transported for medical evaluation.

O'Brien, making her Olympic debut, placed sixth in the first giant slalom run, the best of any U.S. skier. (None of Team USA's male skiers finished in the Top 10 downhill, USA Today notes.) Sweden's Sara Hector took the gold in the women's giant slalom, followed by Federica Brignone of Italy and Gut-Behrami with the bronze.

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