A cameraman has been cleaned up by an athlete in the men’s freeski halfpipe qualifying event in Beijing.

The worker, who was stationed on the top of the half pipe, was knocked over by Finland’s Jon Sallinen - who apologised in the finishing area after a last-second buck saw his skis collide with the camera.

“Oh, he’s hit the cameraman, he’s out!” the commentators said. “Respect to the cameraman just holding that shot.”

Sallinen scored just 18.00 for that run and could not redeem himself on the second attempt, with a score of just 18.50.

The first-time Olympian finished last in qualifying out of 23 competitors, while the best 12 athletes progressed to the final.

Team USA’s Aaron Blunck had a scare in his first run, scoring just 26.25 but a spectacular second attempt saw him finish the qualifying round with the top score - 92.00.

New Zealand’s Nico Porteous qualified in second spot with a top score of 90.50, while Bluck’s countrymen in Birk Irving (89.75) and David Wise (89.00) had the third and fourth-best scores, respectively.