Off-road accident puts snowboarder Danny Davis in hospital, out of 2010 Olympics

Olympic halfpipe hopeful injured, out for 2010

SALT LAKE CITY — Snowboarder Danny Davis has suffered a spinal fracture in an all-terrain-vehicle accident that will end his season and keep him out of the Olympics.

Davis was scheduled to undergo surgery Monday to repair a vertebrae in his lower back. A message on his Facebook site said he injured himself in a four-wheeling accident Sunday and will not compete in remaining snowboard events in 2010.

Davis is good friends with Kevin Pearce, the snowboarder who was injured Dec. 31 in practice and is in a Salt Lake City hospital in serious condition with a severe brain injury.

About a week after Pearce’s injury, Davis won a snowboarding Grand Prix event in Mammoth Lakes, Calif., that all but assured him an Olympic spot.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Snowboarder Danny Davis has been admitted to a Utah hospital with a back injury he endured in a non-snowboarding accident.

Davis was likely to make the U.S. Olympic team in halfpipe. He was admitted to the hospital Sunday, the day after he won the Winter Dew Tour halfpipe contest at Snowbasin in Utah.

Details of his injuries were not immediately available.

Davis is good friends with Kevin Pearce, the snowboarder who was injured Dec. 31 in practice and is in a Salt Lake City hospital in serious condition with a head injury.

About a week after Pearce’s injury, Davis won a Snowboarding Grand Prix event in Mammoth Lakes, Calif. He won with what is already being regarded as one of the best halfpipe runs in the history of the sport — a performance he dedicated to Pearce.