It was meant to be one of the most competitive nights of the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics. Instead, the Women’s 1500-meter short-track speed skating quarter-final turned into a scene that left spectators inside the Milano Ice Skating Arena — and millions watching at home — holding their breath in horror.
Poland’s Kamila Sellier, 25, was racing in the pack when an illegal lane-change attempt by Team USA’s Kristen Santos-Griswold ended in catastrophe. As Santos-Griswold fell following the illegal move, her skate kicked outward — and the razor-sharp blade made direct contact with Sellier’s face, slicing into the area around her eye with devastating precision.
A Race Turned Nightmare
Short-track speed skating is widely regarded as one of the most dangerous disciplines in winter sports. Competitors race inches apart at speeds exceeding 40 kilometers per hour, their blades sharp enough to cut through ice — and, as this incident tragically demonstrated, human flesh. The sport has strict rules around lane changes precisely because of this risk, but when a fall happens at those speeds, the consequences can be catastrophic in a fraction of a second.
Slow-motion footage of the incident clearly captured the moment Santos-Griswold’s blade knocked Sellier’s protective glasses clean off her face before slicing into the flesh near her eye. The crash also brought down Italy’s legendary 14-time Olympic medallist Arianna Fontana, turning what should have been a thrilling quarter-final into a medical emergency.
The race was immediately stopped. Officials brought out a white privacy screen to shield the injured athletes from cameras as medical teams rushed onto the ice to assess the damage. When the screen came down, Sellier was being loaded onto a stretcher — visibly bleeding from the eye area — but managed to raise a thumbs-up to the stunned crowd watching on.
It was a small gesture. But for a stadium that had gone eerily silent, it meant everything.
Emergency Surgery and the Latest Update
Sellier was transported to hospital immediately following the incident, where she underwent emergency surgery the same evening. The entire Polish Olympic delegation, along with fans across the country, waited anxiously through the night for news.
On Saturday morning, a spokesperson for Poland’s Olympic team broke the silence with a cautiously optimistic update. Sellier had come through surgery and was reported to be in good condition. Most critically, early indications suggested her eye had not been permanently damaged — a relief that spread quickly through the sports world given the terrifying nature of the injury.
“She has a cut on her cheek, which was stitched up immediately,” the spokesperson confirmed. “From what I saw, most likely her eyelid is also cut — about half of it.”
However, the road to a full recovery may not be without complications. Polish speed skating federation chief Konrad Niedźwiedzki revealed that doctors are closely monitoring Sellier for signs of a fractured zygomatic bone — the prominent cheekbone beneath the eye socket. Significant swelling around the injury site has made a definitive assessment difficult.
“There is considerable swelling, so it’s hard to say at this point what else happened inside,” Niedźwiedzki told Polish media. “I hope these are only superficial wounds, but we have to wait for the test results from the hospital. There’s a huge swelling — it is possible that this is related to the fact that the zygomatic bone has been damaged or broken.”
Further test results are expected to provide clearer answers about the full extent of the internal damage.
Reaction: ‘It Was a Miracle She Wasn’t Blinded’
Social media lit up in the hours following the crash, with viewers expressing shock, concern, and deep admiration for Sellier’s composure. Many noted that the outcome could have been dramatically worse given the trajectory and force of the blade.
“Short-track speed skating is already insane with those razor-sharp blades flying at 40+ km/h in tight packs,” one user wrote on X. “But seeing a blade slice right across her face like that — it was straight up terrifying to watch.”
Others pointed out the very fine margin between what happened and a potentially blinding injury. Had Santos-Griswold’s skate connected even slightly differently, Sellier could have lost sight in that eye entirely. Instead, early reports suggest the eye itself may have escaped serious harm — though doctors continue to assess.
Santos-Griswold, meanwhile, was disqualified from the race for the illegal lane pass that triggered the crash. She did not advance to the semifinals.
The Strength Behind the Thumbs-Up
Perhaps the most enduring image from that terrifying night was not the crash itself, but what came after it — a young woman, bloodied and in pain, raising her thumb to a crowd that feared the worst. It was a small but profound act of courage that captured something essential about Olympic competition: the willingness to show strength even in your most vulnerable moment.
Kamila Sellier may not have finished her race on February 20, 2026. But in the eyes of many who watched, she became one of the defining stories of these Games.
The Polish Olympic community and sports fans around the world are rallying behind her with wishes for a swift and complete recovery.