The 2026 Winter Olympics have thus far been scintillating, exciting, and successful for Team USA. Alysa Liu became the first American figure skater in 24 years to win the individual gold. Team USA women's hockey team also won gold, defeating Canada in a thrilling overtime finish. But the Games have also been chock full of controversies.

With only a couple of days left in competition, you can add another controversy to the list.

During the semifinal race of the Women's 1,500-meter short track speed skating event, Team USA skater Kristen Santos-Griswold was disqualified. The American, alongside Italy's Arianna Fontana and Poland's Kamila Sellier, all fell about midway through the race.

Santos-Griswold was in fourth when the fall occurred. Her skate appeared to bounce off the ice, catching Sellier near the eye. The NBC announcers did not immediately recognize the severity of the injury. But upon seeing the replay for the first time live, the announcer said, “We have a problem here.”

The replay was one of those not for the squeamish. Thankfully, the cut was just below the eye. Blood drained out onto the ice. The race was stopped moments afterward as the Polish skater was unable to get up, which is not very common in speed skating.

After a lengthy delay, Santos-Griswold was disqualified. Not for cutting Sellier, but for making too aggressive a pass, which allegedly caused the fall.

That left a wide variety of opinions to be expressed on social media.

“I think we've got a fresh Olympics controversy with Kristen Santos-Griswold getting disqualified and kicked off the ice,” one fan wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

“wtf happened to Kristen Santos-Griswold???,” another wondered.

One sports fan took a different approach.

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If you saw the replay, you'll understand.

But one fan who witnessed the incident, spelled it out so anyone can understand.

“I saw a video replay of what happened. As the skaters were turning a corner, Kristen Santos-Griswold edged sharply. But as she did so, it looked like she hit a patch of soft ice. One of Kristen’s blades bounced off the ice and hit Kamila Sellier directly in her face.

“Sellier goes down, taking with her Ariana Fontana,” wrote Malafunkshun808.

Sellier was unable to continue and was wheeled out on a stretcher, per the Connecticut Sun.

However, Fontana, despite suffering injuries herself, was able to continue on. She finished second in her heat on the restart, earning her a spot in the gold medal race.

The Team USA skater knows all too well how dangerous short track speed skating is. Back in 2018, Santos-Griswold sliced tendons in her hand and wrist off another's skate during a fall.

Four years later, she was taken out by none other than Italy's Fontana in a crash. Santos-Griswold finished in fourth, just off the podium.