Dangerous games?

Every winter’s day, or so it seemed, brought a fresh report of an Olympic medal hopeful knocked out of contention for the Vancouver Games. From skiers to bobsledders, snowboarders to skaters, a startling number of athletes became part of an agony-of-defeat montage of injuries
On paper, a pretty good Winter Olympics could be held with all the athletes who are too hurt to make this year’s Games. On television, the drama has never been higher. Even among those who have navigated the slippery slopes, their bodies and Olympic hopes relatively intact, a heightened sense of danger has found an unexpected home in the back of the mind.
The most telling admission, perhaps, came last month at the bottom of the halfpipe in Park City, Utah, a few weeks after the snowboarder Kevin Pearce was airlifted from there after sustaining a traumatic brain injury while working on the double cork, the event’s latest daredevil stunt.

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