Aussie skier’s final hopes come unstuck in start gate
Sami Kennedy-Sim has missed out on a spot in the ski cross big final after missing the start in the opening semi-final.
The Australian’s start was her strength in the quarter-final but it was her downfall in the semi.
Kennedy-Sim struggled to get over the first section and by the time she was rolling the other three competitors had streaked away.
“My pole strap broke and my thumb got stuck in the start gate,” she said.
“And that is a perfect demonstration of why skiers squat, why we’re really, really strong.
“We spend a lot of time in the gym to make it up that steep Wu-Tang face and continue on.”
A fall from Sweden’s Lisa Andersson briefly gave Kennedy-Sim hopes of a Steven Bradbury-style miracle but there was just too much ground to make up.
“About 25 seconds in I thought I would catch them, had a couple of mistakes and narrowly missed the Swede when she fell over,” Kennedy-Sim said.
Still, Kennedy-Sim will return home happy after having turned in a vastly better performance than in Sochi where she went out in the first heat.
She ended up eighth after finishing fourth in the small final.
Meanwhile, 19-year-old figure skater Kailani Craine’s free program scored 111.84 points for a total of 168.61.
It’s a new season-best score for Craine.
In a mistake-free performance in her Olympic debut, Craine earned 57.89 for technical elements and 53.95 for her presentation, with no points deducted to finish 17th.