Update: Click here to read the results of the women’s ski halfpipe final
Team GB skier Rowan Cheshire has reached the finals of the women’s Winter Olympic halfpipe after qualifying in ninth place with a score of 74.0.
The qualifiers see each of the 24 skiers put down two runs, with the best run counting and the top 12 going through to the final, and it all went by-and-large to plan for the favourites.
Cassie Sharpe of Canada finished in first with a score of 93.4 (though her first run of 93.0 would have been enough to win it as well), experienced French skier Marie Martinod put down a 92.0 to finish in second and American Brita Sigourney came third with a 90.6.
Rowan’s fellow Team GB rider Molly Summerhayes missed out on a spot in the finals but stuck down an admirable best run of 66.0 which saw her finish in 17th place. It’s a promising first Olympics for Molly, and great to see Rowan qualify after a tricky past four years in the sport.
Back in 2014, the 22 year old Rowan Chesire became the first British female skier to win a halfpipe competition on the FIS Freestyle World Cup when she won the halfpipe stop in Calgary, but she’s been plagued with injury since – suffering the first of three head injuries in 18 months at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics and being forced out the sport for two years after.
She returned to competitive halfpipe in December 2016 and is currently returning from an ankle injury, so it’s great to see her reach the finals of the Olympic Games now.
