Australian snowboarder flown to hospital after fracturing neck

Livigno: Australian snowboarder Cam Bolton has been helicoptered to a hospital in Milan after fracturing his neck in two places in a practice session at the 2026 Olympics.

The 35-year-old snowboard cross athlete suffered the injury during a fall in practice on Monday but was not hospitalised at the time. However, Bolton reported worsening neck pain on Tuesday and was sent for a CT scan which revealed two “stable neck fractures”.

It was the first two blows for Australia, with halfpipe snowboarder Misaki Vaughan’s Olympics also over after she failed a head injury assessment (HIA) on Tuesday.

Vaughan hit her head during training on Monday and showed signs of a head injury. She was removed from training and failed a subsequent HIA on Tuesday, ruling her out of Olympic competition. Head injury protocols state an athlete cannot participate for a minimum of seven days, which means she will miss the women’s halfpipe qualifying on Wednesday.

Australian chef de mission Alisa Camplin said her heart broke for both Bolton – who would have been competing at his fourth Olympics – and Vaughan who would have been making her Olympic debut.

“Today was a hard day because we had to share with two athletes that they wouldn’t be progressing further through the Games. That’s always a difficult conversation, but at the end of the day, health is the most important thing,” Camplin said.

It’s not the first of Australia’s injury woes, with freeski athlete Daisy Thomas being stretchered off from training on Saturday after a crash where she irritated a previously injured knee. Thomas ruptured her ACL in November but decided against surgery so she could compete at the Olympics.

Thomas had to withdraw from the slopestyle event, but is determined to compete in the big air on February 14.

Camplin said injuries were unfortunate, but not uncommon in extreme sport.

“Unfortunately, with winter sports, injuries happen along the way, and 53 athletes doing relatively high-risk sports, it’s not something that’s unusual, I’m afraid to say.

“Every season you do have a few injuries. We’ve had a few in short succession for the team, but everybody understands that sometimes these things happen, and the level of care and support is really strong.”

Camplin also provided an update on aerial skier Laura Peel, who injured her knee in a pre-Olympic camp. She said Peel was following a strict rehabilitation regime to give herself the best chance of taking to the slopes on February 17.

“Each day she’s making progress ... we’re trying to give her the time and space, our aerial team haven’t even arrived yet, so we don’t need to rush her,” Camplin said.

Bolton will undergo further imaging and assessments, with the Australian Olympic Committee working with local doctors for his treatment.

The late athlete replacement option has been enacted, and James Johnstone will join the team alongside Adam Lambert and Jarryd Hughes for qualifying on Thursday.

The Winter Olympic Games will be broadcast on the 9Network, 9Now and Stan Sport.

News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport sent every Monday. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.