16-Year-Old Snowboarding Sensation Suffers Sickening Crash In Halfpipe Final

Japan’s Yuto Totsuka had to be taken down the pipe in a stretcher.
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Yuto Totsuka, 16, appeared to collide heavily on the lip of the halfpipe during his run.
Cameron Spencer via Getty Images

Japanese snowboarder Yuto Totsuka suffered an awful accident in the final of the men’s halfpipe event that left him lying motionless after he collided heavily with the lip of the pipe.

Totsuka, 16, had just started his second of three runs in the halfpipe final and was attempting a complex trick. As he tried to land the move, his rear appeared to land heavily on the edge of the halfpipe, knocking him over. His body slid, limp, to the middle of the halfpipe, where he ended up lying still.  

Medical personnel quickly descended, and Totsuka was stretchered off the snow for medical attention. 

A USA Today reporter tweeted that Japanese team staff had said Totsuka was taken to hospital with hip pain, but had no serious injury.

Later, on Instagram, Totsuka assured his fans, “The body is okay!”

This story has been updated with news of Totsuka’s condition.