Rachel Axon

USA TODAY Sports

A Russian freestyle skier broke her back in a training crash Saturday at Rosa Khutor Extreme Park and underwent surgery Saturday afternoon.

Skicross racer Maria Komissarova fell during training and injured her spine, prompting the immediate surgery at Krasnodar Regional Hospital.

The Russian freestyle ski federation said in a statement that Komissarova had a successful 6 1/2-hour operation after fracturing the 12th dorsal vertebrae in her lower-middle back and is in serious, but stable condition. She is expected to have a second spinal surgery in about two weeks, according to the federation.

The 23-year-old was not expected to contend for a medal.

"Slopestyle is a sport with a certain risk, you will never be able to exclude any kind of risk," IOC President Thomas Bach told Reuters. "We feel very sorry for the athlete."