Olympic Speed Skater Shares Update, Hospital Photo After Face Cut by Blade
Polish speed skater Kamila Sellier shared an optimistic update after her face was accidentally weighed down by a metal midway through her 2026 Winter Olympics race.
“I know that one day I will look at this picture and remember that I am stronger than I believed,” Sellier, 25, wrote on Instagram on Saturday, February 21, alongside a selfie in a hospital bed. “Thank you for all your words of support.”
He went on to say, “[I] I just wanted to let you know that I’m doing well.”
In Sellier’s upload, he smiled as he wore a hospital gown. The professional athlete also made a heart gesture with his thumb and index finger.
Sellier was competing in the women’s 1500m on Friday, February 20, when she collided with a Team USA skater. Kristen Santos-Griswold in the snow. Santos-Griswold’s blade cut Sellier’s face.
Santos-Griswold, 31, was penalized for passing an illegal lane that caused the accident and was disqualified from the race. Sellier, on the other hand, was extricated from the ice by local medical personnel. He flashed a thumbs up to the Olympic crowd on his way out.
Polish journalist Mateusz Ligęza reported at the time that Sellier was unconscious the entire time and injured his zygomatic bone, also known as his cheekbone.
“He was always alert after this dangerous and slippery contact,” Ligęza said of X.
CBC reporter Devin Herouxmeanwhile, he suggested that poor ice conditions may have been the cause of Sellier’s injury.
“Snow conditions have been a conversation between the Olympics here,” Heroux tweeted on Friday. “It’s the same place for track skating and figure skating. And after two weeks of blades tearing up the ice, it seems like it’s still uncertain on the final night of competition.”
Kristen Santos-Griswold, Kamila Sellier and Arianna Fontana fall near South Noh Do-hee while competing in the women’s short track speed skating 1500m quarter-final.
WANG ZHAO / AFPThe reporter added, “Some content. It was the hottest day at the Olympics in Milano today. The temperature rose to 18 C. And it seems that the ice is deteriorating. It’s bad for the athletes.”
Sellier is a short track athlete who has been documenting his experience at the Milan Cortina Olympics using social media.
“Be happy, that’s all [the Olympic] Games,” he wrote on Instagram on February 10, adding a hashtag with the words, “Let’s go.”
Sellier previously helped Team Poland to silver at the ISU World Short Track Speed Skating Championship in March 2025.
“It’s a historic day for our team,” Sellier told reporters at the time. “Our first medal at the World Championships. I’m very happy. I’m very proud of our team. We brought it to the most important competition of the year.”
Update, 12/1/24 at 5:21 pm ET: Hours after being kicked off the course, Mikaela Shiffrin shared an update on her life. “Hey guys, it’s not a big reason to worry at this point. I can’t move. I had a good blast and something stabbed me under his fingers,” Shiffrin said on Instagram. […]
In her private life, Kamila married a fellow speed skater Diané Sellier in May 2025. Diané, 24, did not compete in the 2026 Olympics but was his wife’s number 1 supporter.
“Everyone please send good energy [a] a good recovery for my wife, who was badly injured in the Olympics,” Diané wrote on her Instagram Stories on Saturday, February 21. “She is strong and will come back stronger.”
