Kiwi snowboarder qualifies for final
KIWI snowboarder Carlos Garcia Knight will ride for a medal at the Winter Olympics in South Korea today.
The 20-year-old scored 80.10 in his qualifying heat yesterday in Pyeongchang, the sixth-best mark among the 12 finalists.
He now has a shot at becoming New Zealand’s second medallist in the history of the Games, joining Annelise Coberger, who claimed silver in the alpine skiing slalom at the 1992 Games in Albertville, France.
In a video posted on social media by the New Zealand Olympic team, Garcia Knight said he was now hoping ‘‘to put down the best run [he’s] ever done,’’ in today’s final.
‘‘It’s been a long time in the making to come here and do this, and for it to all have fallen into place is really awesome.
‘‘I can’t really ask for anything more.’’
The snowboarders were split into two heats, and they each had two chances to post a score in qualifying, with the top six in each heat advancing.
Garcia Knight had the secondbest score in his heat, behind Norway’s Marcus Kleveland, who had 83.71.
Four snowboarders then went GETTY IMAGES better than him in the second heat, with Canada’s Max Parrot achieving the best overall score, 87.36.
Garcia Knight said he couldn’t remember most of his run.
‘‘You get in that really focused mode and it’s all a blur, but as soon as I landed I remember seeing the crowd, and I just couldn’t really believe it.’’
He was the only Kiwi in action on the first day of the Games, as fellow snowboarder Tiarn Collins was forced to withdraw after dislocating his shoulder in training.
Collins remains hopeful of being able to compete in the big air event on February 21.
The slopestyle final begins at 2pm [NZT] today.
Two other Kiwis will be in action today – Zoi Sadowski Synnott, who has her qualifying heat for the women’s slopestyle, and speed skater Peter Michael, who has his 5000m final.