The first X Games snowmobile event since 2020 was overshadowed by major crashes for Marcus Ohlsson and Brandon Cormier. Fortunately, both are on the mend.

After a five-year absence, Friday night saw the return of the sleds with Snowmobile Freestyle.

Ohlsson was the sixth rider on deck for the first wave of runs. The Swede opted to start by standing on his seat like a Jet-Ski before hitting the first jump, attempting a backflip combined with a kiss of death. However, he couldn’t stick the landing. While it was close, the sled narrowly avoided crushing him, and he was still moving but in pain as medics attended to him.

He was taken to the hospital for what X Games officials stated was a back injury.

“I passed out pretty bad and got some broken parts in my body. Best outcome from this crash,” Ohlsson stated. “Setup at X was awesome, my body was just too sore to make that trick today.”

Cormier, who won the 2020 freestyle, crashed in Run 2. After setting what was ultimately the fifth best score of the night on his first attempt, he tried a body varial on the second but had lost too much speed. He couldn’t regain his grip on his sled in time, so he kicked himself away before impact to keep it from landing on him.

The X Games said Cormier suffered a neck injury. Cormier commented later on Saturday morning that he was “all good. Just very, very sore,” and was discharged from the hospital.

Ohlsson had also crashed in Run 1 of his X Games debut in 2020.

Snowmobile Freestyle was won by Brett Turcotte. Snowmobile Speed & Style, the only other snowmobile event planned, will have seeding on Saturday before taking place on the final day on Sunday.

Featured image credit: via Marcus Ohlsson