Sellier fell in the quarter-final and was struck in the face by a rival’s skate. She was carried off the ice on a stretcher and transported to hospital.
Team press attache Katarzyna Kochaniak-Roman said Sellier was on her way to a procedure to reopen the wound so doctors could assess the condition of the bone more precisely. The decision followed a CT scan that revealed a minor fracture. After the operation, she will remain in hospital overnight for observation.
Earlier, Poland’s Olympic mission chief Konrad Niedźwiedzki said Sellier had remained conscious throughout. Kochaniak-Roman added that the athlete had stood up on her own and was being supported by her parents and the team doctor.
The incident comes as the Milan-Cortina Games draw to a close, with Polish athletes still competing strongly across disciplines on Saturday. Three biathletes — Joanna Jakieła, Natalia Sidorowicz and Kamila Żuk — will line up in the women’s 12.5 km mass start in Anterselva after exceeding expectations earlier in the Games, including a historic sixth place in the 4x6 km relay.
On the speed skating oval in Milan, silver medallist Władimir Semirunnij will compete in the mass start, an event he does not usually train for, while Natalia Czerwonka will race in the women’s field. Poland will also be represented in the men’s 50 km cross-country race, women’s two-woman bobsleigh and the mixed ski mountaineering relay.
Saturday’s highlight will be the men’s 50 km cross-country race, where Norway’s Johannes Klaebo is aiming to complete an Olympic “Grand Slam” by winning all six events he has entered, matching the five-title record set by American speed skater Eric Heiden at Lake Placid in 1980 and moving closer to the all-time gold medal tally led by swimmer Michael Phelps.
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Source: PAP