Teen Snowboarder Gets Back Up After Heavy Fall, Eyes Gold

Most 16-year-olds would call it quits after a crash that required x-rays, but Ally Hickman isn't most teenagers.

The Australian snowboarder hit the deck hard during the slopestyle final at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Livigno, landing heavily on packed snow after losing her balance on a high rail structure. Cameras quickly cut away as she lay motionless, sparking worry throughout the Australian camp already dealing with multiple team injuries this Games.

But Hickman had other plans. After getting checked out and catching her breath, she climbed back to the top of the course for her third and final run.

"I was definitely contemplating not doing my third run," Hickman admitted after the event. "But it's the Olympics, you've got to do everything."

She nearly nailed it too. Right up until the final jump, her third run looked set to score higher than her opening effort that had her sitting in fifth place. The last landing didn't stick, and she finished seventh overall, but Hickman walked away beaming.

The second-youngest member of Australia's team earned that seventh-place finish the hard way. Her fall left her "really winded" and required a trip to the medical clinic for precautionary x-rays, which thankfully showed no major damage beyond bruising.

Why This Inspires

Getting back on the course took more than physical recovery. Hickman admitted feeling nervous when she approached the second rail on her final run, spotting the mark her board had left in the metal from her earlier crash.

"I was like, 'don't look at it,'" she recalled. "After I made it past the second rail, it felt like I was just in a flow state, which felt so good to be doing my run again."

The 2023 junior world championship bronze medallist isn't viewing her Olympic debut as a disappointment. At just 16, she's already thinking four years ahead.

"This Olympics was more of like a learning part," Hickman explained. "Next Olympics I'm going to come back and hopefully go for gold."

That mindset, combined with the courage to finish what she started despite real risk and fear, represents exactly the kind of resilience that builds champions.