Coady’s cool run to final exorcises Olympics demons

By her own standards, the 21-year-old took things conservatively in booking her place in Sunday’s slopestyle final at the Beijing Winter Olympics.

She still qualified eighth, safely inside the top 12 cut-off to make the three-round final, but said she has plenty more up her sleeve for when the medals are up for grabs.

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“I’ve definitely got more to give, so that’s good,” she said. “It wasn’t the cleanest run I’ve ever done, but it wasn’t too bad.”

No one could blame the Victorian for holding back and just doing enough to secure a spot in the final after what happened to her at the last Olympics.

Selected for the team at 17, she tore her ACL during a practice run and didn’t get to compete.

She waited another four years to officially become an Olympian but had flashbacks to 2018 when she was involved in another fall in training after arriving in China.

It wasn’t anywhere near as bad but enough to make her dial it down and just make sure she qualified for the final.

“It’s nice to get some redemption at this event so I’m pretty stoked,” she said.

“It always feels good to land two runs. I had a pretty sore body after practise.

“I kind of got smoked so I was definitely happy to land two runs and get a good score on the board on the second one.”

With each of the 28 starters given two trips down the mountain to make the top 12, with the best score from either run counting, Coady didn’t reveal her hand on her first go, but still finished seventh with a score of 55.98 points.

She dropped back one place to eighth after her second run, but it was actually much better, both technically and in terms of difficulty, scoring 71.13.

That still left her well behind the leader, Sydney-born New Zealander Zoi Sadowski-Synnott, but within striking distance to her other main rivals, including two-time defending champion, American Jamie Anderson, who qualified fifth.

“The riders in this event are sick,” Coady said.

“Sometimes at World Cups and stuff, people don’t show up because of crossing countries and what not so it’s sometimes pretty hard to get the full field at an event but all the best riders are here and everyone’s watching.”

Sadowski-Synnott is the overwhelming favourite to take the gold.

She won bronze in the Big Air as a 16-year-old four years ago but is now an unstoppable force, having captured the last two world championships in slopestyle.

The Kiwi also took it easy in qualifying but still topped the list with an intimidating score of 86.75 that Coady said got the thumbs of approval from all the other riders.

“Zoi is so sick. She’s so inspiring and fun to watch ride. You can always count on her to throw down,” Coady said. “It’s really nice, it’s different to a lot of other sports.

“Everyone’s fist bumping and sort of just hanging out and chatting in the athlete lounge.

“It’s a pretty chilled vibe. It’s not like this crazy, stone faced competition stuff so it’s sick when all the homies get through and everyone gets to ride together.”

CRAZY WEATHER HALTS DOWNHILL

The final training run for the men’s Olympic downhill was cut short Saturday because of high winds that blew pre-race favourite Aleksander Aamodt Kilde 60 metres into the air on his run.

Just three racers — Norway’s Kilde, Austrian Matthias Mayer and Christof Innerhofer of Italy — came down the 3.1 kilometre (two-mile) “Rock” course before organisers called it a day, to the disgruntlement of some racers unable to take to their skis.

Kilde said the gusts of wind were “coming from every direction” and had propelled him into the air on some of the five jumps that punctuate the man-made course on artificial snow.

“Due to the present weather situation with high winds and no window in the forecast for decreasing winds, in the best interest of safety the jury together with the organisers have decided to cancel today’s (training run),” a statement read.

According to the official forecast, the wind made the minus 19.5 degrees Celsius (minus 3.1 degrees Fahrenheit) temperature feel like minus 28.3C.

The medal race for the downhill, one of the most prestigious Winter Olympic titles, is scheduled for Saturday, when similar windy and cold conditions are expected.

Racers completed the first two training runs on Thursday and Friday without problem, and Kilde said it was a “pity they sent three guys and then made the decision”.

“We could have waited for a bit,” argued Switzerland’s Marco Odermatt, the World Cup overall leader and one of Kilde’s main rivals.

“To allow three skiers to come down, including two favourites, then cancel training at 11:15 am without waiting for midday, I find regrettable.

“For sure it is a little bit of an advantage. Like this, it’s probably not super fair. But anyway with the wind it won’t be the fairest race anyway. Still, on an Olympic track where everything is new, you really want to have the same amount of training.”

Of his third training run, Kilde said: “It’s fun to ski but with the wind it’s kind of crazy because you gain so much speed in some places and then you suddenly lose speed.”

He was thankful he was “in balance” when he was propelled into the air. “Thank God for that,” the 29-year-old said.

“It’s never dangerous when you’re in balance, but if you lose balance and you get even worse wind than I got, then anything can happen and that’s a risk.

“Usually we can have jumps like that but that’s usually the jump that makes it far, not the wind.” Kilde added: “It’s pretty obvious here that the wind is an issue and maybe we get some results we don’t usually see, but if you are consistently fast and in shape it will go well for you anyway and at least you have the biggest chance to win.”

The decision to allow three racers down before cancelling did not, however, sit well with France’s Matthieu Bailet.

“It’s really pathetic, very unfair,” he said. “We saw there was a lot of wind, but we’re not beginners, we know how to manage our skis, risk, pressure.”

Bailet’s teammate Johan Clarey, at 41 the elder statesman of the men’s elite ski circuit and an official representative of the skiers, admitted it was a “big problem” that the whole field had not had a chance of testing out the course for a third time.

“I tried talking with FIS but they were having none of it.”

– AFP

SNOWBOARD LEGEND’S LAST HURRAH

American snowboard legend Shaun White said Saturday he will retire from competition after he attempts to defend his Olympic title in Beijing, citing the “little signs” from his 35-year-old body.

The three-time halfpipe champion said he intends to “squeeze every bit of fun and excitement” out of his fifth and final Games before bringing the curtain down on his storied career.

“In my mind, I think I’ve decided this will be the last competition,” said the man who has done more than anyone to bring snowboarding to the world’s attention.

“It’s this now, it’s that now — it’s all these little things adding up that’s taking away from days of practice that I would normally have.”

White added that watching other riders — some half his age — pull off “heavier and heavier” tricks was also a factor. He acknowledged that “everyone is catching up” to his level, and said just getting to Beijing was an achievement in itself.

White only booked his spot in the US team at the last moment, after injuries and a bout of Covid hampered his progress. But he is determined to go out with a bang in Beijing, saying he is “still incredibly competitive in any situation”.

“I’m the year of the tiger, and I was reading my personality traits,” he said. “It was pretty spot on about how competitive I am and how much I want to be in that limelight and do what I came here to do.”

White said there is “still a life to be had within the sport outside of competition”, and reflected on his long and illustrious snowboarding career.

Bursting onto the Olympic scene in 2006, White was known as the “Flying Tomato” for his lustrous long red locks and explosive riding style. He won gold in the halfpipe in 2006 and 2010 before missing out on a medal in a shock upset at the 2014 Sochi Games.

But he regained his crown four years later in Pyeongchang with a dramatic last ride, which he described as his “legacy performance”.

“The thing I’m the most proud of would be staying on top of a sport that’s ever-changing for as long as I have,” he said. “It’s almost like fashion — it’s ever-changing, you’re trying to guess the trend of what’s going to happen and have your finger on the pulse.”

White will have strong competition in Beijing from Australian Scotty James and Japanese riders Ayumu Hirano, Yuto Totsuka and Ruka Hirano.

Ayumu Hirano made history in December last year by landing the ultra-difficult triple cork move for the first time in a competition.

White said he was “feeling pretty confident” about the event and would be satisfied if he can “lay it out there”.

“I really have an idea in my head of what I’d like to put down, and as long as I can put that down then I’m happy,” he said. “That’s how I approach every competition — you’ve got to be content with your own riding and level.”

– AFP

PUTIN SNOOZES THROUGH OPENING CEREMONY

Vladimir Putin’s not losing any sleep over the Ukraine conflict.

The Russian president appeared to doze off during the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics Friday as Ukraine’s national team marched through the stadium.

The world leader was caught on camera slumped in his chair with his eyes closed as the athletes were introduced and their national anthem blared, according to the UK Independent.

Putin’s eyes then flitted open and he was up and at ‘em by the time the Russian Olympic Committee team entered Beijing’s National Stadium, standing to salute them.

The president’s ill-timed snooze came amid tense relations between Russia and Ukraine after Putin placed more than 100,000 troops on the nation’s border.

Images of the notoriously shrewd politician’s shuteye sparked speculation on Twitter later Friday that he “faked” the nap as a slight to the rival country.

Putin was at the winter games despite Russia’s four-year ban from the Olympics in 2019 due to widespread doping violations and a state-sanctioned cover-up.The ban forbids Russian athletes from competing under their flag or hearing their national anthem played at the games but allows them to participate as the Russian Olympic Committee.

– story via The New York Post

TOPLESS HUNK STEALS OLYMPIC SPOTLIGHT

American Samoa flag-bearer Nathan Crumpton added to a fledgling Olympic tradition by appearing shirtless and with his torso gleaming at the Beijing Winter Games opening ceremony on Friday despite subzero temperatures.

The 36-year-old skeleton racer took his turn in the athletes’ parade as the sole competitor from the US territory, wearing only the skirt-like traditional lavalava and sandals.

Crumpton follows in the footsteps of oiled-up Tongan Olympian Pita Taufatofua, who started the chilly trend.

Despite the mercury falling well below freezing at the “Bird’s Nest” stadium in Beijing, Crumpton appeared unfazed. He was flanked by cheering volunteers decked in thick puffer jackets and gloves.

Taufatofua’s first bare-chested appearance at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio won him global Internet fans with Tongan media calling him “the hottest man today in a town that’s known for its appreciation of the body beautiful”.

Taufatofua, who had done taekwondo in Rio, repeated his feat at the 2018 Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea, after he qualified as a cross-country skier.

His toned torso was challenged at the Tokyo Games opening ceremony last year by a rival topless parader from Vanuatu, Riilio Rii.

Taufatofua is sitting out the Winter Games in Beijing but he gave Crumpton his support from afar on Friday, tweeting a photo of the athlete at the Beijing ceremony with the caption: “American Samoa holding the fort.”

AUSSIES IN THE MIX FOR MEDALS TODAY

Australia has a real shot at picking up an early medal at the Beijing Winter Olympics when the first finals get underway on Saturday.

Six gold medals will be decided on the first full day of competition with Aussies involved in two of those events — the men’s moguls and women’s cross country.

Australia has won a medal in men’s moguls at three of the last four Olympics and has high hopes again with Matt Graham leading the charge despite crashing in Thursday’s first round of qualifiers.

The silver medallist in PyeongChang four years ago, Graham missed the chance to advance straight to the final so needs to finish in the top 10 of Saturday’s second qualifying run to join the 10 automatic finalists for the medal rounds later that night at Zhangjiakou.

“Obviously there’s going to be a lot more pressure on Saturday on that first run and making sure that I put it down,” Graham said.

“It’s not the end of the world just yet – I like to think of myself as a fighter and I will keep fighting right until my last run.”

Back in action less than two months after fracturing his collarbone, Graham will be joined by three other Aussies, who also have great chances of moving through to the next phase after impressive opening runs under lights.

Brodie Summers was unlucky not to go straight through, as he finished 11th, while Olympic rookie Cooper Woods was 14th and James Matheson 20th.

Australia will have two competitors in the women’s 15km skiathlon final, which involves 7.5km of classic skiing and 7.5km of freestyle.

By their own admission, Australia’s two entrants Jess Yeaton and Casey Wright are regarded as long outsiders to medal in sport that is dominated by Scandinavian superstars.

“I was so intimidated at first by those big names, and I always felt that I looked like a bit of an idiot out there. Assuming they’re thinking: ‘Who is this girl?’ Yeaton said.

“Then you realise they’re all human, and you actually do deserve to be here. I’m not an impostor or something.”

Australia has never won more than three medals at a single Winter Olympics but global sports data firm Gracenote told News Corp that record could be eclipse in China.

“The Gracenote Virtual Medal Table forecasts that Australia will win more Winter Games medals than ever before at Beijing 2022,” said Gracenote’s head of sports analysis Simon Gleave

“Freestyle skier Laura Peel, X-Games half-pipe champion Scott James and the mixed snowboard cross pair of Brockhoff and Hughes are all ranked number one. Moguls skier Jakara Anthony is in virtual bronze.”

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