She was the first American athlete to medal for Team USA in the Beijing Olympics, now a fall in practice has put the rest of Westport's Julia Marino's Olympic journey in jeopardy.

Get our free mobile app

As we reported here, the Olympic journey began on an up note last week when Julia Marino took home the silver medal for team U.S.A. placing in the runner up spot in the slopestyle snowboarding competition.

It was almost gold for Marino who was in the lead of her event until the final run of the competition when Zoi Sadowski-Synnott of New Zealand took the lead and claimed the gold medal. Meanwhile Tess Coady of Australia settled for the bronze medal.

When it was all said and done, Marino, who placed 6th in the qualifying rounds dug a little deeper in the medal rounds and pulled off that second place finish.

Then the unthinkable happened a few days ago during a practice run for the Olympic snowboard big air competition. Marino took a fall and was unable to compete in her next competition. Her snowboarding teammate and favorite to win the gold, Jamie Anderson also fell during one of her qualifying runs and will not be able to compete in the big air finals either.

The 24-year-old from Westport was all set to jump 23rd in the 30-snowboarder field during qualifying this weekend and it was a surprise when she didn’t appear.

She decided at the last minute to drop out of the event, she even posted a video of her practicing on her Instagram page just hours before the qualifying rounds.

According to News 12, one of Marino's teammates, Hailey Langland said that the Connecticut Olympian was shaken physically and mentally by her fall and her decision not to compete was so she could prioritize her health.

CHECK IT OUT: 100 sports records and the stories behind them

LOOK: 25 fascinating vintage photos of the first Winter Olympic Games

The first-ever Winter Olympics were held in Chamonix, France, showcasing a variety of sports and athletes. Stacker assembled a collection of photos from those first Games.

More From WRKI and WINE