The terrifying moment a skateboarder hit a deer while hurtling down a road at 65km/h during a race in the US has been caught on video. The incident took place at the Buffalo Bill Downhill race in Colorado over the weekend — an event that gained the nickname “Downhill Bloodspill” due to the high speed crashes that can occur. The footage, posted online on September 30, shows a group of longboarders racing down a hill when a deer suddenly runs out onto the road. The deer tries to run through a gap in the skateboarders but ends up colliding head-first into one of the competitors, sending both him and the animal tumbling off the road in a cloud of dust.

Online posts suggested the skateboarder was Salt Lake City local Ryan Vitale. Several posts said Vitale was not badly injured in the crash, however it is unknown if the deer survived. The “Bloodspill”, which has been running for four years and is the only legal skateboarding road race in Colorado, and was last year the scene of a helicopter crash.

The helicopter, which was filming the race from above, crashed on the mountainside but fortunately nobody was hurt. Downhill skateboard racing is said to combine the balance and maneuvering of snowboarding with the passing strategies of a car race. Competitors are made to wear helmets and other protective gear.

By Alys Francis