Cassie Sharpe entered as the gold medal favorite and did not disappoint.
After dominating both rounds of competition in women's freeski halfpipe, Canadian freeskier Cassie Sharpe has won her first Olympic gold medal.
Sharpe's first run of the final — which included cork 900s in both directions — didn't even contain her biggest trick, but it still put her atop the leaderboard with a 94.4.
On her second run, Sharpe stepped it up with back-to-back 900s at the top of the halfpipe and a cork 1080 spun to her left on her last hit. Those progressive tricks, combined with Sharpe's great amplitude, upped her score to a 95.8.
No one was able to match that, and by the time she dropped in for her third and final run, Sharpe had already secured the title of Olympic champion. She described the scene right before she took her victory lap:
"My coach Trennon [Paynter] hugged me at the top and it was just the biggest hug, and I said, 'I can't hug you because I'm going to cry' and he said, 'I'm going to cry on national television.'"
Sharpe, 25, has become a dominant force within the freeskiing scene within the last two years or so. Her ability to blend progressive tricks with big amplitude and smooth execution turned her into the odds-on favorite for halfpipe gold in her Olympic debut.
"It hasn't really sunk in yet, but it's just an incredible feeling," Sharpe said. "Just putting all my hard work into this, it's just everything wrapped up into one."
The Canadian wasn't the only skier landing 1080s though. France's Marie Martinod landed a left 1080 on her second run to help her score a 92.6. That run gave Martinod her second straight Olympic silver medal in what will likely be one of the final contests of her career.
"It means I made a good decision to come back, it means I've been working hard and I could do it at the right times," Martinod said of winning her second Olympic medal. "It means I'm leaving this industry with a great message to all the girls: that you can push hard, you can push for a long time, and if you take care of yourself you can do it until you're 33 at least. And it means — and this is most important — that you can be a woman, you can have kids and you can do it, feel good about it, and come back [to the sport]."
At 33, Martinod was the oldest skier in the field in PyeongChang. She previously retired for five years (from 2006-2011) to start a family before reemerging (partly at the insistence of the late freeski pioneer Sarah Burke) to make a run at the 2014 Olympics. Martinod continued competing through the 2018 Games but plans to head back into retirement after PyeongChang.
"I've given a lot to this sport," she said. "It gave a lot back and now it's time to move on and do other stuff and I can't wait to do other stuff."
U.S. skier Brita Sigourney demonstrated impressive amplitude and consistency throughout the contest and landed three solid runs. Her third run scored a 91.6 and moved her into third place, which secured a bronze medal for her but also bumped teammate Annalisa Drew off the podium.
Just a few minutes earlier, Drew had put herself into medal contention with an impressive run that included a 1080. In a moment of camaraderie, she and Sigourney shared a hug after Sigourney landed the run that knocked her down to fourth place.
"I said [to Drew] I'm sorry and I love her," Sigourney said. "It's kind of an uncomfortable spot, but I think, at the end of the day, just having Anna's support and her telling me she loves me and is proud of me, that takes everything away and I'm just happy to share it with her."
"I feel really good, I'm super stoked," Drew said. "This is the best run that I've put down all season so I couldn't be happier, I don't care about the result."
Defending champion Maddie Bowman was unable to land a run in the final and placed 11th. She was attempting back-to-back 900s at the end of her runs, but washed out on the landing of the second 900 on all three attempts.
"I'm really glad I went for it," Bowman said. "I wanted to do the best run of my life, or crash. I'm not here to throw safety runs. I went for it."
Videos of the top runs can be found further below.
Results
Gold: Cassie Sharpe (CAN), 95.8
Silver: Marie Martinod (FRA), 92.6
Bronze: Brita Sigourney (USA), 91.6
4. Annalisa Drew (USA), 90.8
5. Ayana Onozuka (JPN), 82.2
6. Valeriya Demidova (OAR), 80.6
7. Rowan Cheshire (GBR), 75.4
8. Sabrina Cakmakli (GER), 74.2
9. Zhang Kexin (CHN), 73.0
10. Rosalind Groenewoud (CAN), 70.6
11. Maddie Bowman (USA), 27.0
12. Anais Caradeux (FRA), DNS
Highlights
Cassie Sharpe wears a mouth guard with a gold tooth painted in the middle and raps to herself just before she drops into the halfpipe, the bars of hip-hop group M.O.P.’s hit “Ante Up” buzzing through the Canadian freestyle skier’s head on a loop.
The ritual calms her down and pumps her up at the same time. On Tuesday, it preceded a dazzling show in the Olympic finals as the 25-year-old picked up the torch left by the late Canadian star Sarah Burke and carried it into the future.
Sharpe soared to gold with a pair of thrilling runs at Phoenix Snow Park, posting the top two scores of the day. The 95.80 she put up during her second set, one she capped by stomping a 1080-degree spin, marked the highest ever during the sport’s brief Olympic history.
France’s Marie Martinod, the Sochi silver medalist, came in second again (92.60), while Brita Sigourney of the United States earned the bronze medal with a score of 91.60.
Ayana Onozuka failed to make it back on the Olympic podium as the 2014 Sochi bronze medalist ended up a distant fifth with 82.20 points.
“I have to face up to this,” Onozuka said. “The top three just dominated.
“I couldn’t win a medal but I gave it everything I had. It’s tough for me that I didn’t medal, but it would have been worse if I knew I didn’t leave it all out there.”
Onozuka fell during the first run. She improved to 77.20 the second time out, but her final score did not come close to challenging the eventual medalists.
“The first run, I wasn’t expecting that at all,” she said. “I thought I could turn it around in the next run, but then I landed on the lip. If you look at the top three there is a gap, but I improved and was much better in the third so I’m happy about that.”
Freestyle halfpipe made its debut at the Sochi Games four years ago thanks in large part to the efforts of Burke, a four-time X Games winner who was at the forefront of the spirited movement to get it included into the Winter Olympic program.
Burke died from head injuries suffered in a training accident in 2012. Six years later, however, her legacy is secure. The proof came during Sharpe’s boundary-pushing display.
“I wouldn’t be doing the tricks that I do without her being in this sport,” Sharpe said. “She was the pioneer for us to be in the Olympics and for us to be a part of all of it so definitely, she’s always on our minds, she’s always with us.”
Martinod, a longtime friend of Burke’s who was lured out of possible retirement by Burke when halfpipe entered the Olympics, threw down a 92.60 on her second run. The 33-year-old mother also took a moment to tell Sharpe how she knew Burke would be impressed with the series of athletic leaps off the deck Sharpe seemed to do with remarkable ease.
“Marie said, ‘I feel you have the ability to carry on what Sarah was doing here,’ ” Sharpe said. “It feels totally good. Super special. It meant a lot. And it was mid-runs too and she was like, ‘OK, just focus on what you’re doing.’ Oh, OK then.”
PYEONGCHANG, South Korea -- Cassie Sharpe wears a mouthguard with a gold tooth painted in the middle and raps to herself, just before she drops into the halfpipe. The bars of hip-hop group M.O.P.'s hit "Ante Up" buzz through the Canadian freestyle skier's head on a loop.
The ritual calms her down and pumps her up, and preceded a dazzling show in the Olympic final Wednesday, as the 25-year-old picked up the torch left by the late Canadian star Sarah Burke and carried it into the future.
Sharpe soared to gold with a pair of thrilling runs at Phoenix Snow Park, posting the top two scores of the day. The 95.80 she put up during her second set, one she capped by stomping a 1080-degree spin, marked the highest ever during the sport's brief Olympic history.
Freestyle halfpipe made its debut at the Sochi Games four years ago thanks in large part to the efforts of Burke, a four-time X Games winner who was at the forefront of the movement to get it included into the Olympic program.
Cassie Sharpe soared to gold with a pair of thrilling runs at Phoenix Snow Park, posting the top two scores of the day. Ian MacNicol/Getty Images
Burke died from head injuries suffered in a training accident in 2012. Six years later, however, her legacy is secure. The proof came during Burke's boundary-pushing display.
"I wouldn't be doing the tricks that I do without her being in this sport," Sharpe said. "She was the pioneer for us to be in the Olympics and for us to be a part of all of it, so definitely, she's always on our minds, she's always with us."
Sharpe topped qualifying Monday with a pair of massive runs and went even higher in the finals. When France's Marie Martinod washed out during her final run and was forced to settle for a second silver to go with the one she captured in Sochi, it gave Sharpe the victory lap she'd long envisioned.
One problem. Sharpe was too overcome to "send it" following a teary embrace with her coach Trennon Paynter, who also served as Burke's coach, before her last trip. Sharpe ended up sitting down halfway through the run. Not that it mattered.
"I didn't realize how much emotions would be going at that point," she said with a laugh. "It still felt good to go through there. I had a moment when I fell and I was just sliding backwards and I looked back up and I was like: 'You did it. You're here. It's fine.'"
And spectacular.
Martinod, a longtime friend of Burke's who was lured out of possible retirement by Burke when halfpipe entered the Olympics, threw down a 92.60 on her second run. The 33-year-old mother also took a moment to tell Sharpe how she knew Burke would be impressed with the series of athletic leaps off the deck Sharpe seemed to do with remarkable ease.
"Marie said, 'I feel you have the ability to carry on what Sarah was doing here'," Sharpe said. "It feels totally good. Super special. It meant a lot. And it was midruns too, and she was like, 'OK, just focus on what you're doing.' 'Oh, OK then.'"
Martinod, who is retiring so she can focus on her family and 8-year-old daughter, Melirose, believes Burke would have been pleased with what went down on the sport's biggest stage.
"We saw a lot of 10s, a lot of good tricks, high amplitude, and that's exactly what [Burke's] been fighting for," Martinod said. "So she'd be proud that all those people around the world could be the best contest ever at this time. It's perfect."
American Brita Sigourney edged teammate Annalisa Drew for bronze. Drew scored 90.80 on her final run to slip past Sigourney only to have Sigourney, the next skier down, put up a 91.80.
Defending-Olympic-champion Maddie Bowman of the United States fell on the final hit during each of her three runs in the final.
