Halfpipe set to close out Beijing 2022 freeski competition
Feb 17, 2022·Freeski Park & Pipe
Freestyle skiing competition at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games is set to wrap-up over the coming days, with halfpipe competition being the final freeski events to take place here in Genting Snow Park.
Qualifications went down on Thursday, 17 February, in the Genting Snow Park halfpipe that has widely been described as the best ever built, first by first the snowboarders who competed at the venue earlier week, and now by the freeskiers who are set for women’s finals on Friday and men’s finals on Saturday.
For both the women and the men the 12 athletes set to compete in finals over the coming two days are by and large the ones who were expected to be there and battling for medals.
GU LOOKS TO BECOME FIRST FREESTYLE TRIPLE MEDAL WINNER AT A SINGLE GAMES
On the women’s side of things it is once again going to be all eyes on China’s Eileen Gu, as the 18-year-old lead qualifications with ease as she looks to become the first athlete to win medals in three different freestyle skiing events at the same Olympics.
Already the Beijing 2022 big air gold medallist and slopestyle silver medallist, Gu is set to drop in on what is her strongest event when women’s halfpipe finals take centre stage on Friday, as she heads into Beijing 2022 competition as the reigning World Champion and crystal globe winner, having made history by sweeping the top of the podium in World Cup halfpipe competition in 2021/22, winning four out of four.
Gu is arguably the most talented all-around competitive freeskier in the world today, and her profile in China - already white-hot before the Games - has hit a temperature usually reserved for celestial bodies such as the sun. A halfpipe victory to close out Beijing 2022 for the Gu isn’t a necessity to confirm her stardom by any means - but it is almost expected of her, and anything less than a top-3 would come as a massive disappointment.
If she does, indeed, take the Beijing 2022 halfpipe victory - or any other podium result - she’ll cement herself in one fell swoop as one of the greatest of all time, achieving a feet that no other freestyle skier has accomplished in 30 years of the discipline’s inclusion on the Olympic programme.
So, yes, Gu is an overwhelming favourite for the halfpipe win, and she proved in Thursday’s qualifiers that if she can stay on her feet through at least one of her three finals runs in Friday’s finals, no one else will really be able to hold a candle to her.
Foremost among the challengers will, however, we be Canada’s Rachel Karker, who finished second behind Gu in two of the three World Cups she entered this season and took a third-place finish in the other one, while also grabbing silver behind Gu at the Aspen 2021 World Championships last season.
Then there’s the USA’s Hanna Faulhaber - perhaps the biggest boosting woman in the field and the biggest breakout story of the season, as the 17 year old grabbed two podiums in four World Cup events to finish third overall on the World Cup standings, while also landing on the Dew Tour podium in third.
Finally, look to Estonia’s Kelly Sildaru, reigning Olympic gold medallist Cassie Sharpe of Canada, and PyeongChang 2018 bronze medallist Brita Sigourney of the USA as a few of the other women’s medal hopefuls in Friday’s finals.
PORTEOUS LOOKS TO SPOIL NORTH AMERICAN PARTY
On the men’s side of things the question of who’s the podium favourite is far more up in the air, with every one of the top 12 skiers who qualified to finals owning at least one World Cup podium - lead by two-time reigning Olympic champion David Wise and his 17 career top-3 results.
However, the one skier who has stood above the rest in halfpipe’s biggest competitions over the past few years is New Zealand’s Nico Porteous, the reigning World Champion and X Games winner, PyeongChang 2018 bronze medallist, and the owner of the heaviest combo in halfpipe skiing - double cork 1620s in both directions.
While Porteous only unleashed one of his 16s in qualifications, he still ended up putting down the second-highest score on Thursday, lead only by two-time World Champion Aaron Blunck of the USA.
Beijing 2022 will be Blunck’s third Olympic start, with both of his past two attempts ending in seventh-place results. However, since PyeongChang 2018 Blunck has become arguably the strongest and most consistent competitor in halfpipe, and his ability to step up in high-pressure situations puts him amongst the favourites to upset Porteous.
That being said, Brendan Mackay of Canada rolled into Beijing 2022 competition as the strongest performer of the 2021/22 World Cup season, taking two wins and a third-place finish in his three competitions. Mackay qualified in fifth on Thursday while displaying a brand-new 1620 of his own, and if he cleans up the grab on that trick for Saturday’s men’s finals he very well put himself in podium position.
Mackay actually tied with Alex Ferreira of the USA atop the 2021/22 halfpipe World Cup standings, but won the crystal globe on the tiebreak criteria of having more wins.
Ferreira won silver at PyeongChang 2018 and he, along with third-ranked qualifier Birk Irving and the all-time great Wise give the USA four of the finest to ever ski a halfpipe, and a very real shot at a podium sweep.
Wise is the only man ever to win an Olympic halfpipe competition, taking gold at both Sochi 2014 in the event’s debut and in PyeongChang last Olympic go-around. While it’s been a while since Wise’s last competition win - a World Cup victory in Calgary in the 2018/19 season - the 31-year-old
Not to be outdone, the Canadians will see Noah Bowman and Simon D’Artois going Mackay in Saturday’s finals, and the battle between the two North American nations for a piece of the top-3 should be a compelling one, to say the least.
Finally, there are two legends of the sport set to make the final competition starts of their respective careers on Saturday, as Kevin Rolland (FRA) and Gus Kenworthy (GBR) both managed to make their way into finals. While neither is a podium favourite, both are fierce competitors and proud freeskiers, and you can bet on both looking to head into retirement with statement performances.
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