Saturday with the death of skicross racer Nik Zoricic, who suffered head injuries after crashing into the nets on the side of the course near the final jump of a race in Switzerland.
Ski authorities called it a "freak accident," much the same way they labeled the fatal accident of Canadian freestyle skier Sarah Burke, who crashed during halfpipe training two months to the day before Zoricic's accident.
Both Burke and Zoricic were 29.
International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge called Zoricic's death "a very sad day for the whole Olympic Movement."
"He was a young, gifted athlete who tragically died doing the sport he loved," Rogge said in a statement.
Skicross debuted at the Olympics in 2010, joining its sister sport of snowboardcross in the latest attempt by the IOC to bring a more exciting, youthful feel to the games. It's a dangerous discipline – known as "NASCAR on skis" – during which four racers jostle down a course filled with banks, rolls and ridges.
Despite the inherent danger, Max Gartner, president of Alpine Canada, said he was satisfied with the safety precautions in place for the race in Grindelwald, Switzerland.
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