Short-track speedskater Kamila Sellier has been stretchered out of the Milano Ice Skating Arena after having her head sliced open by a competitor’s blade during the women’s 1500m at the Winter Olympics.

The 25-year-old Polish athlete was nestled inside a pack when she lost her footing going around the final corner and copped the blade of a stray ice skate directly to her left eye region.

American skater Kristen Santos-Griswold and 15-time Olympic medallist Ariana Fontana from Italy also went down, but neither were as unfortunate as Sellier, who crashed into the wall as blood immediately started pouring from her face.

Santos-Griswold was later penalised for an illegal lane pass which contributed to the accident, costing her a spot in the quarter-final round.

The race was brought to a halt as Sellier received medal attention behind the privacy of a white sheet that blocked the packed crowd from watching.

After being immobilised and moved onto a stretcher, Sellier eventually gave the crowd a thumbs up as she was wheeled out of the arena, leaving a chilling trail of blood from the final corner of the track.

Event staff had to clean the blood up before racing could resume.

Polish officials later said Sellier suffered no significant damage to her eye, but received stitches for the cut before being taken to the hospital for further examination.

On the restart, Fontana — who required attention to a sore hip from her physio during the break — managed to finish second behind Belgium’s Hanne Desmet to book a place in the semi-final round.