Then on Sunday, two of the first riders in the snowboard cross seeding run were taken away on stretchers. Norwegian Helene Olafsen landed badly after a jump and tore a ligament in her knee, and American Jacqueline Hernandez briefly lost consciousness after smashing into the snow. Italian Michela Moioli also ruptured a knee ligament after a fall in the final. And British halfpipe skier Rowan Cheshire spent the night in hospital and tweeted a picture of her bloodied face after a crash in training. IOC spokesman Mark Adams said the health and safety of athletes was their number one priority, but he did not believe there was a problem with the ski cross course.

“A lot of athletes are saying it's a great course,” he said. “Many said it was the best course they have ever been on.” The IOC was monitoring injuries but there didn't seem to be any difference from Vancouver. “Snow sports are not without their risks,” he said. “But we don't see any difference between this Games and the last one.” Sochi spokeswoman Aleksandra Kosterina was asked to respond to comments that the biathlon had been postponed due to “unskiable” slushy corners, but she said the event had been postponed by fog. Adams said “we have not had any major complaints about conditions up there.”

Sergey Estrin, the member of the Sochi organising committee responsible for the alpine venues, said that in terms of skiing, the danger level actually came down with soft snow. Organisers said they were confident that the snow would hold up for the rest of the Games, whatever the weather, with snowmaking supplementing a good base from snow earlier in the year. Australian snowboard cross rider Belle Brockhoff, who crashed out of the semi-final after colliding with another racer, said her crash was “just part of racing”. Loading American boarder Faye Gulini said the snowboard cross course was “a great course, but it is intimidating" due to its huge jumps.