Austrian snowboarder Markus Schairer broke the fifth cervical vertebra in his neck during a frightening fall in the snowboard cross quarterfinals Thursday.

Schairer, 30, landed with full force on his back, with his head snapping back and hitting the ground. After he was examined at a hospital, the Austrian Olympic Committee said he had suffered no neurological problems and was in stable condition.

He will return to Austria for additional evaluation and treatment.

Pierre Vaultier of France defended his title. Americans Nick Baumgartner and Mick Dierdorff made the final but finished well back of the leaders.

Stranglehold broken: Ted-Jan Bloemen finally broke the Dutch hold on the top step of the speedskating podium with a 10,000 meters that not only brought him the Olympic record but also vindication of his decision to leave the Netherlands.

Unable to make the Dutch team for the 2014 Sochi Games, Bloemen, whose father was born in Canada, tried the last option he could think of and joined the Canadian team. It paid off with his record time of 12 minutes 39.11 seconds.

Defending champ Jorrit Bergsma of the Netherlands took silver and Nicola Tumolero of Italy bronze. Dutchman Sven Kramer again failed to win the Olympic race he most craves, slumping to sixth.

Bye-bye, biathlon: The only American to win a world championship in biathlon fell well short of the podium in the third try of his final Olympics.

Lowell Bailey finished 51st in the 20-kilometer individual race.

World No. 1 Martin Fourcade stunningly missed his final two targets, handing Norwegian rival Johannes Thingnes Boe his first Olympic gold medal.

The women’s 15-kilometer race also featured an upset. Hanna Oeberg of Sweden beat two-time gold medalist Laura Dahlmeier of Germany.

Outta there: The International Olympic Committee is sending home a member who was involved in an altercation with an Olympic security guard.

The IOC said Adam Pengilly had apologized to the guard and would leave the Olympics immediately. The IOC also noted that Pengilly’s IOC membership will expire Feb. 25, the day of the closing ceremony. Pengilly competed in skeleton for Britain in 2006 and 2010 and has been an IOC member since 2010.

Also: Canada opened its men’s hockey campaign with a 5-1 win over Switzerland. ... Natalie Geisenberger became the first Olympian to win four luge golds by helping Germany take the team relay. The U.S. was fourth, missing a medal by about one-tenth of a second. ... Norway’s Ragnhild Haga won her first gold medal in women’s 10-kilometer freestyle cross-country skiing, prevailing by more than 20 seconds.