It’s been over 24 hours, we’re still reeling from Sarka Pancochova‘s horrific crash during her second run in the women’s Olympic slopestyle final. The Czech Republic’s only snowboarder at the games had been sitting in first place after Run 1 before Jenny Jones trumped her score on her second go. Sarka stepped it up for round two, floating a massive cab 720. It was looking good, but she didn’t complete the rotation and came a cropper:

The force was so severe that Sarka’s helmet was split in two – and from the looks of things, she had still been knocked out. However, she quickly came to and cruised down to the bottom to huge cheers from the crowd.

In the wake of Michael Schumacher‘s recent ski crash, it’s interesting to note that the medics didn’t take Sarka down the hill in a blood wagon as a precaution. Schumi was apparently lucid and chatty after his incident, before slipping into a coma from which he is still to fully emerge. A similar situation occurred when actress Natasha Richardson fell on the slopes back in 2009, and she died shortly after.

Fortunately, it appears that the only lasting damage has been to Sarka’s lid. She took to Facebook afterwards to let everyone know that she was OK, posting a fantastic picture and message that reminded us just how awesome Shark Bite is.

She’s also qualified for halfpipe, but it remains to be seen if she’ll be appearing at tomorrow’s qualifiers. No matter if not; she’s still only 23, and that great attitude – plus the fact that she’s clearly hard as nails – means that she’ll no doubt be a top slopestyle contender for years to come.