The Olympic veterans moved directly to the finals after the qualification rounds. Leading the way was American Snow Idol, Kelly Clark with a 95.00 score. Nipping at her heels was Australia’s sweetheart Torah Bright and fellow American Hannah Teter. Clark topped the scores but all that goes out the window with the finals. Twelve riders will have two runs in hopes of capturing Olympic Gold. The best score of the two will determine the next Olympic medalists. Clark, Bright and Teter have all been on the Olympic podium before.
Team USA’s Kaitlyn Farrington narrowly missed the direct to finals qualification but nailed her first run in the semi-finals which puts her back in the mix once again. Unfortunately teammate, Arielle Gold had to opt out of the Games due to a reported dislocated shoulder injury. Arielle’s brother Taylor, also an olympic snowboarder, confirmed via twitter that she suffered the injury in a practice run just before the qualification run.
@KellyMarren she dislocated her shoulder in practice.
— Taylor Gold (@Taylor_Gold) February 12, 2014
The finals will take place LIVE on NBCOlympics.com and broadcast later this evening on tv. This will be an incredibly competitive field with the odds-on favorite being Kelly Clark. The halfpipe conditions have been challenging for the riders so anything is possible when it comes time for the finals.
HEAT ONE RESULTS
1. Kelly Clark (USA), 95.00
2. Queralt Castellet (ESP), 93.25
3. Sophie Rodriguez (FRA), 78.50
HEAT TWO RESULTS
1. Torah Bright (AUS), 93.00
2. Hannah Teter (USA), 92.00
3. Xuetong Cai (CHN), 88.00
SEMI-FINAL RESULTS
1. Kaitlyn Farrington (USA), 87.50
2. Jiayu Liu (CHN), 81.25
3. Shuang Li (CHN), 80.00
4. Ursina Haller (SUI), 44.50
5. Mirabelle Thovex (FRA), 70.75
6. Rana Okada (JAP), 70.00
Follow live coverage on twitter @hardbodynews.
