Canadian skier Sarah Burke, 29, a leading pioneer of the freestyle halfpipe and the best-known athlete in her sport, died Thursday, nine days after crashing at the bottom of the superpipe during a training run in Utah, Los Angeles Times reported.

Burke, who was a driving force behind the inclusion of the halfpipe in the 2014 Winter Olympics, was injured Jan 10 while training at Park City Mountain resort.

Tests revealed that she sustained "irreversible damage to her brain due to lack of oxygen and blood after cardiac arrest," according to a statement released on behalf of her family. She died at University of Utah Hospital in Salt Lake City.

Burke had been favored to win gold at the Winter X Games, set to start next week in Aspen, Colo., and in 2014 when her sport debuts at the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

A four-time Winter X Games champion, Burke crashed on the same halfpipe where snowboarder Kevin Pearce suffered a traumatic brain injury during a training accident on Dec. 31, 2009.