Canadian Skier Sarah Burke Dies

Sarah Burke, the 29-year-old freestyle superstar and Winter X Games gold medalist, died Thursday after holding on for more than a week after an accident at the Park City Mountain Resort in Utah sent her into cardiac arrest. Burke lobbied for years to have her signature event, the freestyle halfpipe, included as an Olympic event, an ambition that will come true at the 2014 Games. Burke’s accident and death have again raised concerns about the safety of extreme sports; her fall was on the same halfpipe where Kevin Pearce, a snowboarder, suffered a nonfatal brain injury in 2009.