Winter Olympics 2018: Biggest crashes and falls in Pyeongchang featuring Elise Christie and Emily Sweeney

There have been some big falls due to the high winds in Pyeongchang

Aside from all the glitz and the glamour of medal ceremonies and hard work in Pyeongchang, the 2018 Winter Olympics as also been full of hurt, with the physical risks laid bare for the world to see.

Team GB’s Elise Christie’s now infamous crash, while devastating to come when it did in the final lap of the 500m sprint in the speed skating, it was physically one of the less painful looking falls we’ve seen in South Korea.

One of the causes of the crashes has been the high winds in Pyeongchang disrupting competitions with the men’s halfpipe throwing up a nasty-looking fall from Japan’s Yuto Totsuka which left him being stretchered off the course in a back and neck brace. Fortunately he suffered only minor hip injuries.

US luge competitor Emily Sweeney was another to suffer one of the worst crashes of the games so far after her head felt the full force of her derailment during the women’s singles event. Again, she was lucky to walk off the course.

Scroll through the gallery at the top of the page to see some of the biggest crashes and falls of the games so far as athletes continue to put their bodies through the ringer for a shot at gold.