Injured, Canadian freestyle skier Elena Gaskell will not be able to take part in the Big Air freestyle event at the Beijing Olympics, which is to take place on Sunday evening.
Posted at 8:58
The 20-year-old athlete suffered a lower-body injury during a recent training session, the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) said Sunday morning.
Gaskell had announced the news in a story posted on his Instagram account a few hours earlier. However, she did not give details of the reasons for her withdrawal.
“I’m heartbroken and I need time to figure this out so please wait before asking questions.” I will be posting about it soon,” she wrote.
“Thank you to everyone who was going to watch me and who always supported me in this experience,” she added.
SCREENSHOT FROM INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT @ELENA. GASKELL
The skier from Vernon, British Columbia, has two other Olympic events scheduled on her schedule, the slopestyle on February 13 and the halfpipe on February 17.
The COC said she will be evaluated on a daily basis to determine if she will compete in slopestyle initially.
Canada will still count on two representatives at the Big Air: Olivia Asselin and Megan Oldham.