Sharpe-looking gold for Canada
Sigourney bronze medalist for U.S. in freestyle skiing halfpipe
BONGPYEONG, SOUTH KOREA» Canada’s Cassie Sharpe got her wish. ¶ The pipe-skiing phenom aced qualifying Monday, saying she wanted to drop last so she could get a victory lap on her f inal of three runs in Tuesday’s ski pipe f inals.
She got that lap, along with the secondever gold medal in women’s Olympic ski halfpipe. With a declarative 1080 as her final hit, the 25-year-old Sharpe proved untouchable despite gallant final runs by the Americans, Brita Sigourney, Annalisa Drew and defending gold medalist Maddie Bowman.
Sigourney’s emphasis on amplitude over technicality, opting to soar over spin, earned her bronze behind Sochi silver medalist Marie Martinod, a 33-year-old mother from France whose daughter cheered for her from the bottom of the halfpipe.
The women’s halfpipe finals were not the display of progression seen in the snowboarding contests the week before, when both the men and women highlighted firstever tricks in a battle for the ages. The women skiers focused on style and soaring over spinning and flipping, using 540s, 720s and big 900s to shine. Despite several skiers having 1080s in their arsenals, Sharpe was the only woman to spin the rare trick.
Bowman struggled with her trademark back-to-back 900s on the end of her run, falling on all three attempts to land that final rightside 900. She slammed hard on the last attempt, laying in the pipe for several minutes before walking away to applause from one of the most crowded events during these Games at the Phoenix Park Resort.
“I decided to go for it, and I wasn’t going to hold back. I didn’t want to put down a safety run, and I went for it,” said Bowman, tears welling as she praised her teammates.
Sigourney’s final run was her best of the three and bumped her friend and teammate Drew off the podium to secure the bronze.
Drew said her final run “was the best skiing I’ve done all season,” but she wasn’t celebrating with Sigourney left to step up her run.
“I knew she had it as soon as she dropped in,” Drew said. “I just knew. I think everyone
is on top of their game right now, on top of the best pipe we’ve ever skied, and the combination of the two made for a good performance.”
Sigourney said it was uncomfortable, embracing Drew at the bottom of the pipe waiting for a score that eventually delivered her a medal but pushed her friend out of contention.
“We love each other and want each other to do well,” said Sigourney, who competed in Sochi following two years of several surgeries. “So obvious- ly it was kind of an uncomfortable spot, but at the end of the day just having Anna’s support and her telling me she loves me and is proud of me, it takes everything away.”
For Sharpe, her victory run wasn’t everything she hoped for. She had the gold locked down but fell in the middle of her run.
“Being at the top, I didn’t realize how emotional it was going to be to have that victory run,” she said, noting that she still was able to throw that big 1080 as her final hit. “Just for the crowd. It was awesome.”