Cassie Sharpe claims the Olympic gold in ladies' halfpipe
Aug 31, 2018·Freeski Park & Pipe
PyeongChang (KOR) - Hard work has paid off for freeskier Cassie Sharpe (CAN), who put down two of her best runs to give Canada its first Olympic gold medal in ski halfpipe at the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games on Tuesday.
The 25-year-old led the field at Phoenix Snow Park with a first-run score of 94.40 before an even stronger performance in the second run and a top score of 95.80 secured the gold medal.
Silver went to French skier Marie Martinod (FRA) while Brita Sigourney (USA) claimed bronze.
"I've been training so hard to get that run consistent and I just wanted to come out here strong with that first run," Sharpe said. "It hasn't really sunk in yet, but it's just an incredible feeling. Just putting all my hard work into this, it's just everything wrapped up into one."
Sharpe won Canada's first medal in ladies' halfpipe, making Canada the first country to win at least one medal in all five ladies' freestyle skiing events at the Olympic Winter Games.
Sochi 2014 silver medallist Martinod looked ready to knock Sharpe from pole position with her third run before crashing and instead claimed silver with a best-run score of 92.60.
"I guess I was going much higher and keeping my style on, so it's a bit of frustration, of course," the 33-year-old said. "But that's fine, I broke my arse and I need some painkillers right now."
The double Olympic silver medallist was proud the field was able to step up their performances for the final.
"We showed the whole world probably the best girl contest in halfpipe today, so it's much more than just my personal medal."
At 33, silver medallist Martinod became the second-oldest female medallist from France at the Winter Games, after biathlete Sylive Becaert who took silver in the women's relay in 2010 aged 34. She also became the first woman with multiple medals in the ladies' halfpipe as she also won silver at Sochi 2014, the first time the event was contested.
Sigourney took bronze after holding off teammate Annalisa Drew with a third-run score of 91.60.
"I tried not to put any pressure on myself but obviously when you're in the moment you really want it," Sigoruney said. "Just to come away with that and to be able to land all my runs today and do what I want to do, I feel accomplished and so relieved."
While Drew was consigned to fourth, teammate and Sochi 2014 champion Maddie Bowman (USA) finished 11th after failing to land any of her runs and wiping out while attempting back-to-back 900s.
"I'm really glad I went for it. I wanted to do the best run of my life or crash. I'm not here to throw safety runs," Bowman said.
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