Winter Olympics: Freestyle skier Jon Sallinen crashes into a CAMERAMAN during halfpipe qualifying

Finnish freestyle skier Jon Sallinen sent a camera operator flying during his first run in Thursday’s halfpipe qualifying after misjudging one of his tricks.

Sallinen was halfway through his run when he lost control on the left lip of the pipe, soaring over the edge and clipping the camera to send the operator crashing to the snow.

Sallinen dropped back into the pipe to complete his run and the judges were very unimpressed, giving him a score of 18 out of 100, and the camera operator was soon back up on their feet as qualifying continued.

The Finn lost control on the lip of the pipe halfway through his first qualifying run 

He clipped the camera to send both the operator and himself crashing into the snow

‘I wasn’t even sure if I was gonna ski on my second run after my crash, I hope the cameraman is okay, I landed directly on him,’ Sallinen said, blaming the overcast, snowy weather at the Genting Snow Park for the crash.

The Finn could not redeem himself on his second attempt either, as he scored just 18.50.

The first-time Olympian finished last in qualifying out of 23 competitors, with the best 12 athletes progressing to the final. 

Team GB’s Gus Kenworthy scraped through to the men’s final, finishing in the 12th and final qualifying spot.

He bounced back from an opening run of 8.50 to secure 70.75 in his second attempt and finish 1.50 ahead of New Zealand’s Ben Harrington.

The first-time Olympian’s crash saw him finish last in qualifying out of 23 competitors

Team GB’s Gus Kenworthy scraped through to the final, finishing in the 12th qualifying spot

After a disappointing first run he scored 70.75 in his second attempt to snatch 12th position