The mother of Kiwi freeskier Fin Melville Ives says he has a "broken collarbone and a bit of a broken heart" after he was knocked out in a fall during the men's freeski halfpipe final at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics.
The 19-year-old gold medal favourite and reigning world champion hit the snow hard on the third trick of his second run in Italy, knocking himself unconscious and being stretchered off the mountain for medical checks.
His mother Karen told 1News that her son's head was okay after the crash.
"He has a broken collarbone and a bit of a broken heart."
Coach Tom Willmott said Melville Ives took a "big hit".
"Our team doctor’s with him, his mum’s with him, and he’s doing okay. He’s, he was knocked out, but he’s conscious right now, he’s talking, and he’s doing okay. He’s getting full checks, scans, X-rays, all the rest of it, just to fully rule anything out. But yeah, I can let you know he’s doing okay."
Fellow Kiwi Ben Harrington dedicated his second qualifying run to his injured teammate, finishing in ninth place.
Making it to the finals was "an insane feeling", he said.
"My biggest goal was just to come out and land some runs. I had knee surgery just over a year ago, so it was a mission to get back here but we did it."
American Alex Ferreira took gold with a score of 93.75, with Estonia’s Henry Sildaru (93.00) and Canadian Brendan Mackay (91.00) joining him on the podium.
Fellow Kiwis Gustav Legnavsky and Luke Harrold failed to qualify for the final, finishing in 14th and 15th respectively.
So far, New Zealand has secured three medals in this year's Games.
On Thursday, Zoi Sadowski-Synnott broke a record to become the world's most decorated Olympic snowboarder with a silver-medal run in the women's snowboard slopestyle event.
Luca Harrington brought home bronze at the men's freestyle skiing slopestyle last week, after Sadowski-Synnott also claimed New Zealand's first medal of the games, taking a silver in the big air event.
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