Sports can be dangerous, ice can be slippery, and not much good can come from four elite athletes heading toward each other at high speeds and on sharp blades.
So it wasn’t all that surprising when Canada’s pairs figure skating team of Vanessa James and Eric Radford crashed with Italians Nicole Della Monica and Matteo Guarise during a practice session Sunday afternoon at the 2022 Winter Olympics.
As detailed a day earlier, these things happen during skating practices and warmups.
Della Monica saw it coming and skated out of the way, while Radford, holding James, collided with Guarise, who rose immediately and then helped Radford to his feet.
James suffered the most from her impact to the ice and Radford falling on top of her.
Four medical staff members tended to the now four-time Olympian, who was able to walk off the ice by herself though clearly in pain.
As it turns out, this isn’t even the first collision this week between these two pairs.
NBC learned from figure skating reporter Jackie Wong, who is on the ground at these Games, that the same athletes had a mishap during a practice session a couple days prior. The first time, though, it was Della Monica and Radford who took that one the hardest.
The pairs figure skating competition starts 5:30 a.m. ET on Feb. 18 with the short program and wraps with the free skate at 6 a.m. ET on Feb. 19. Watch live on NBCOlympics.com or Peacock.
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