OLYMPICS: Freestyle world champion Melville Ives suffers bad crash in Milano Cortina Olympics

LIVIGNO, Italy, Feb 20 (Reuters) - New Zealand's Fin Melville Ives suffered a bad crash during Friday's Winter Olympics men's freestyle skiing halfpipe qualifiers, ruling out one of the top medal hopefuls.

The 19-year-old fell on his second run, prompting an immediate medical intervention while spectators fell silent for several tense minutes.

He was eventually taken away on a stretcher.

Team New Zealand said in a statement he took a "heavy knock" but was conscious. "Everything stable and positive. Talking to his mum who is with him. Going through medical process now."

Melville Ives won the world championship on his first attempt in 2025 and also took a superpipe gold at the X Games last month.

The Milano Cortina halfpipe final is due to take place at 1830 GMT in Livigno, with Americans Alex Ferreira, Nick Goepper and Hunter Hess and Canada's Brendan Mackay among top contenders.

-Reporting by Alvise Armellini and Lisa Richwine, Editing by Andrew Cawthorne/Reuters