From ecstasy to devastation in a few short days.
After taking part in the opening ceremonies of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics in China, wearing her Canadian colours with pride and walking into the stadium with all of her Canadian teammates and officials, Elena Gaskell’s Olympic experience has likely ended without the Vernon freestyle skier ever hitting the slopes.
On her last training day, Gaskell, 21, blew out her knee, tearing her ACL, meniscus and suffering a bone bruise on her femur.
She pulled out of her first of three scheduled events Monday, Feb. 7, the big air competition, and Gaskell was slated to compete Feb. 13 in slopestyle and Feb. 17 in halfpipe.
“I am absolutely devastated,” Gaskell posted Monday, Feb. 7, on her Instagram page. “I do not feel OK at all. I feel like I have worked so hard to be here…I’m honestly still trying to process all of this still but it is very hard for me.”
Beijing is Gaskell’s first Olympic Games.
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