Sighel finishes backwards after crash at Olympics
Italy’s Pietro Sighel survived a dramatic multi-skater crash on Sunday at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics, crossing the finish line backwards in a chaotic short track speed skating heat that saw nearly half the field wiped out.
The incident unfolded midway through the race when two skaters tangled at high speed, triggering a chain reaction that sent several athletes sliding across the ice. Sighel was clipped in the collision but somehow kept his balance, spinning around before gliding over the line on his back-facing blades.
“It was pure instinct,” Sighel said afterwards. “I felt contact, tried not to fall, and suddenly I was going backwards. I just wanted to finish.”
One of the fallen competitors called it “a nightmare scenario,” adding, “There was nowhere to go once the first skater went down.”
Officials reviewed the crash before confirming the results, as Sighel’s remarkable recovery kept Italy’s medal hopes alive in one of the wildest moments of the Games so far.