‘Unsafe’: Paralympics ends for Aussie medallist after scary crash on controversial course

Cortina: Summer Paralympic gold medallist Amanda Reid has been forced to withdraw from her remaining event at the 2026 Winter Paralympic Games after a crash in competition led to an overnight stay in hospital earlier this week.

Reid, who was set to compete for Australia in the women’s banked slalom this weekend, fell mid-race during the pre-heat of the women’s snowboard cross SB-LL2 on Sunday. She did not get up after the fall, instead remaining face down in the snow before being stretchered off the course. She was taken in an ambulance to Cortina Hospital to receive treatment on her lower back.

It was Reid’s second crash at the venue in three days and followed successive crashes by other athletes on the same course in Cortina, which was created especially for the Paralympics. The Olympic snowboard cross course was in Livigno, about four hours west of Cortina.

Several athletes were taken to hospital after the first day of training on the course, which ended the day’s session and prompted several changes to make the course safer. More crashes on the following day led to a second round of changes before the finals on Sunday.

In a statement to The Athletic before Reid’s crash, the International Ski and Snowboard Federation said the timings of the Paralympics – in spring instead of winter – had caused “both construction and snow-condition challenges”.

“To ensure athletes have adequate inspection and training runs, sessions must start early, when the course is at its hardest and fastest,” the federation said.

“The incidents involving several athletes occurred under these morning conditions. However, starting later was not an option, as overly soft snow would have degraded the course to a degree that could jeopardise the whole competition.”

Reid was kept in hospital for 24 hours under observation and was discharged on Monday evening.

She posted an update to Instagram on Tuesday saying her Winter Paralympic debut was a “step-by-step guide on what not to do” and that she was “sore, but OK”.

After her hospital release, Reid was assessed by the Australian medical and physiotherapy team before making the decision with her coaches to withdraw from the Games, Paralympics Australia confirmed on Wednesday.

After racing on Sunday, Australian team captain Sean Pollard said he believed the Paralympic course was harder than the Olympic course in Livigno.

“If I’m being completely honest, it was pretty scary. The first feature was doable but just really scary, really high speed,” he said. “It was super technical to start with probably more technical than the Olympic course.”

Pollard also said athletes only got two runs of the final course before competing.

“Unfortunately, I think seven athletes got taken to hospital. So, if it’s that unsafe and not everyone can ride it they’ve got to make changes. Unfortunately, the changes they made, made it worse. So another two athletes went down the next day, and then they changed it completely to make it safe for everyone,” he said.

“Obviously, it’s pretty nerve wracking when you see competitors go down and really good riders as well. It was like the cream of the crop riders. So to see them go down, you know ‘well, it can happen to me’.”

Reid is one of three dual Summer and Winter Paralympians competing for Australia at the 2026 Games alongside Lauren Parker and Michael Milton. She won gold medals at the 2024 Paris and 2020 Tokyo Games in para-cycling and on Sunday, became Australia’s first Indigenous Winter Paralympian.

This masthead has travelled to Cortina as a guest of Paralympics Australia.

The Winter Paralympic Games is broadcast on the Nine Network, 9Now and Stan Sport.