Australian Snowboarder Tess Coady Misses Final as Ally Hickman Advances at Winter Olympics
Beijing bronze medallist Tess Coady has failed to qualify for the final of the women's snowboard slopestyle event at the Winter Olympics, while her 16-year-old teammate Ally Hickman impressively secured a spot in sixth place. Qualification was brought forward by 24 hours due to a forecasted blizzard in Livigno, and challenging wind conditions made the competition particularly difficult for all athletes.
Coady's Disappointing Performance
It was Coady who faced the toughest outcome, with her best score across two runs leaving her in 27th position in a field of 30 competitors. Meila Stalker also missed the 12-boarder final, finishing in 22nd place, but she described the day as "awesome" after struggling with the course during practice and making last-minute adjustments to her run the night before.
Hickman's Impressive Qualification
Hickman, however, stood out with a score of 71.41 on her first run, which proved sufficient to advance on what she initially considered a "very daunting" course. "I'm so happy," the Sydney schoolgirl said, noting that the jumps were "a bit windy." She added, "First run I was just trying to keep it safe and laying a score on the board and it's gotten me to finals which is so good." Hickman is now promising to elevate her performance in the medal round scheduled for Tuesday local time.
Stalker's Reflections on the Event
Stalker shared her thoughts on the qualifying process, stating it was "interesting" to head into the event with a new plan. "It was a bit interesting getting into it today," she explained. "I love playing around with the rails and making it fun, and I really struggled with that this week, and it was really getting to me. Trying to find a run that I'd be proud of and actually enjoy was the hardest part because these rails are either massive or really chill. Unfortunately, it didn't get me on the right path today, but that's okay, I enjoyed riding it. That's what it's about, it's about actually enjoying what we're doing."
Top Qualifiers and Other Competitions
New Zealand's reigning Olympic champion Zoi Sadowski-Synott was the top qualifier, scoring 88.08, ahead of Japan's Kokomo Murase with 84.93, who recently beat her to the Milan-Cortina gold medal in the big air event last week.
Bree Walker's Challenging Start in Monobob
Meanwhile, Australian star Bree Walker faces a mammoth task to medal in the monobob event after a shocking first run in her campaign. Walker arrived in Italy brimming with confidence, having won five medals, including three gold, in seven World Cup races this season, earning her a ranking of No. 2. However, the 33-year-old now has significant ground to make up to reach the podium after uncharacteristic errors marred her first run in the one-woman bobsleigh on the Cortina Olympic track.
After two runs, Walker was placed seventh, with two further runs scheduled to potentially move her up the rankings when the medals are decided. The former one-lap hurdler was back in 11th after the opening run, with German world No. 1 Laura Nolte leading the field ahead of American pair Elena Meyers Taylor and reigning Olympic champion Kaillie Armbruster-Humphries.
The margin between Walker and third place is an aggregate of 0.77 seconds, and the gap from the gold medal is 1.12 seconds, which is substantial in the sliding world. "I made some unexpected mistakes in the first heat so I was really happy to be able to come down and, and lay it down in the second heat and move up a few spots," said Walker, who finished fifth four years ago in Beijing. "Definitely better run on the second — the first heat, I just made some mistakes that I hadn't been making during the training and it was really unexpected, but it was the track was faster, and it was first day and first heat. And so I just went back and regrouped and spoke with my coach went out there and blasted it in the second heat. It's a really tight race, and it's four heats, so you've just got to keep going. I know what I can produce, and I just have to keep going."
