Kaitlyn Farrington took a surprise gold in the women’s Halfpipe Olympic final and upset the favourites. It is the first major competition the 24 year old has ever won and she saw off the incredible experience and medal hauls of Torah Bright and Kelly Clark who finished second and third respectively.

After American disappointment in the men’s Halfpipe yesterday the women restored normality, taking three of the top four spots after an hour of incredible riding. Everyone expected Torah Bright and Kelly Clark to feature heavily but few expected neither of them to be on the top step of the podium. Just 1.25 points separated the three and some will feel that the defending Olympic champion and the defending X-Games champion would’ve prevailed on another day.

Farrington’s run was super clean, despite the much criticised conditions, and the American rookie showed that there is plenty of new talent coming through in the women’s Halfpipe. Both Torah Bright and Kelly Clark will be disappointed after both landing impressive final runs. Bright pulled off a huge McTwist and followed it with super controlled spins with the judges scoring her at 91.50, just a quarter of a point behind Farrington. Clark stomped a huge frontside 1080 that earned her a 90.5

Kaityln Farrington was the surprise, the most junior of the US women in the final, when she show to first place with an incredible run scoring 91.75