OlympicTalk · Nov 12, 2020
‘Do not let me die’: Olympic skier Aaron Blunck details halfpipe crash aftermath
Olympic halfpipe skier Aaron Blunck lacerated a kidney, broke ribs, fractured his pelvis and even bruised his heart. Before he learned all that, he thought it could have been much worse.
Blunck, the reigning world champion, shared video of a preseason training crash in Switzerland last month, when he was working on a switch double cork 1440. The 24-year-old from Colorado previously landed it in practice, but no skier has ever landed in halfpipe competition.
Blunck lifted out of the halfpipe and flipped twice while spinning before striking the lip of the pipe on the way down. His shoulder smacked the snow first. One of his skis detached as he fell into the flat bottom.