Adam Lambert will have to put aside the devastation of watching his injured Australian team room-mate Cam Bolton being airlifted out of the Olympics when snowboard cross gets underway at the Milan-Cortina Games.
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Australia’s snowboard cross team are particularly tight, with Lambert sharing digs with Bolton for the past eight years while he grew up a next-door neighbour in Jindabyne with medal favourite Josie Baff.
The crew were rocked in Livigno when scans revealed that Bolton had fractured his neck in two places in a training crash, with the 35-year-old transported from the mountain to Milan with his fourth Olympics campaign over.
The Australian Olympic team issued a statement on Wednesday that Bolton had been allowed to leave hospital.
“Cam Bolton completed tests at a hospital in Milan and late last night moved to a hotel in Milan where he is now resting with the support of the Australian Olympic Team medical staff,” the team said.
Adam Lambert (right) in action. Millo Moravski/Agence Zoom/Getty Images
“Cam is in a stable condition and remains in good spirits.
“The Australian Olympic medical team is working with local doctors and neuro specialists in Australia to determine next steps for further assessment and treatment.”
Lambert will have to refocus, looking to stretch his run of impressive form with the 28-year-old striking World Cup gold in China last month.
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While he’s had eight podium finishes, that was his first triumph.
“The timing is one thing, but just the fact that it happened is another,” Lambert told AAP.
“I’ve been on the podium a fair bit in my career before a victory finally, so it was just a really great feeling to be able to say that I’ve done it now.
‘It’s a little bit of weight off my shoulders and now I can move forward with the confidence that I can do it.”
Lambert said it wouldn’t change his approach to his third Olympics.
“If anything, it just confirms that what I’ve been doing is the correct thing so I won’t be changing anything.
“I’ll be running the exact same program that I’ve been running at, the last three races into the Olympics, and I expect it to work well.”
Jarryd Hughes, who won silver in PyeongChang, will also compete.
The men’s snowboard cross gets underway on Thursday (2345 AEDT).
