Photo by Nate Abbott
This morning at Rosa Khutor Alpine Resort, 22 women made skiing history as they partook in what was the first ever freeskiing competition held at the Olympic Winter Games. After two runs, the top 12 women advanced to this afternoon’s final; they are as follows:
1. Dara Howell (CAN) 88.80
2. Kim Lamarre (CAN) 85.40
3. Katie Summerhayes (GBR) 84.00
4. Yuki Tsubota (CAN) 81.00
5. Devin Logan (USA) 80.40
6. Emma Dahlstrom (SWE) 79.20
7. Anna Segal (AUS) 78.80
8. Julia Krass (USA) 78.40
9. Eveline Bhend (SUI) 77.20
10. Camillia Berra (SUI) 74.80
11. Keri Herman (USA) 72.40
12. Silvia Bertagna (ITA) 70.60
Not advancing to finals
13. Dominique Ohaco (CHI)
14. Lisa Zimmermann (GER)
15. Anna Willcox-Silfverberg (NZL)
16. Philomena Bair (AUT)
17. Julia Marino (PAR)
18. Natalia Slepecka (SVK)
19. Kaya Turski (CAN)
20. Zuzana Stromkova (SVK)
21. Anna Mirtova (RUS)
22. Chiho Takao (JPN)
Notes:
Missing the final round is 2014 X Games Aspen champion Kaya Turski. Kaya took first in Aspen just five months out of knee surgery, and was a favorite to medal here in Sochi. On her first run, Kaya went down on the third rail station; she lost her balance on the tall box option, and took an awkward spill. On her second run, Kaya was forced to revert after her second jump of three, and losing speed in the process, she knuckled the third and final jump. We’re wishing Kaya well following a challenging morning.
Kaya wrote on Twitter, “Well World…. I gave it my best shot. I truly did…… Thank you for all the amazing support. Everyone. Love you.”
Keri Herman went down on run 1 of 2, and put her second run to her feet under pressure. Phew.
In terms of weather and course conditions: it’s warm here. Following a week of colder temps and fast, firm snow, the course is on the slushy side this morning. Herman told us holes are developing in landings, and riding switch is very difficult. It’s mostly overcast today, with spots of sun shining through.
Devin Logan told us she was very relieved to have gotten the qualifiers out of the way, and mentioned she had been feeling some jitters.
The large crowd went absolutely wild for Camillia Berra’s final hit, a double front. The locals also gave tremendous applause to the only Russian female slopestyle competitor: Anna Mirtova.
Dara Howell was skiing very well throughout the morning training session; we were not surprised to see her top the qualifier. If she can up the ante for finals, which we suspect she will (we haven’t seen the switch bio 9 out of her yet), she’ll be tough to beat.
Final thought: The vibe here at base of the slopestyle course is incredible. The grandstand is huge. So many flags. So much face paint. So much energy. The finals kick off at 1:00 p.m. local time.
Stay tuned to freeskier.com/olympics for continued coverage.
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