- Snowboarder Berenice Wicki is fighting for the halfpipe medals at her Olympic premiere early Thursday in Beijing.
- As the eighth of 22 starters, the only 19-year-old from Aargau mastered the qualification without any problems.
- Shortly thereafter, their team-mate Jan Scherrer (8th) and Pat Burgener (11th) followed in the final – David Hablützel (24th) fell by the wayside.
Berenice Wicki was undaunted in the Beijing tube. She received 71.50 points for her remarkable 1st run without any notable mistakes and finished 7th after half the qualifying workload. The basis for entering the final was laid.
The 19-year-old from Aargau was able to afford a fall during the reprise. She thus got her discarded result, lost only one place and, in eighth place, is clearly one of the 12 athletes who are fighting for the medals. The decision will be made on Thursday in 3 races starting at 2:30 a.m. – you will be there live on SRF.
The potential in the World Cup indicated
At her first participation in the Winter Games, Wicki confirmed her recent solid results. She arrived with the classifications 6, 6 and 10 in the Halfpipe World Cup and can now trump free in the final.
Chloe Kim (87.75 points) was the best in qualifying. The 21-year-old American conquered the gold medal in Pyeongchang 4 years ago.
Scherrer and Burgener breathe a sigh of relief after the first run
Switzerland is represented in twos in the men’s final field, which will then decide the Olympic medals on Friday. Jan Scherrer and Pat Burgener made the cut. Both benefited from a solid starting position after part 1 of the competition and promptly provided confirmation.
When Ayumu Hirano (JPN/93.25 points) qualified for victory, Scherrer held on to 8th place with his better 2nd run (79.25). Burgener was also able to increase his performance in the reprise by 2.25 points and is in 11th place with a score of 73.00.
Hablützel without a chance – White hits back
Meanwhile, David Hablützel, the third in the group, was unable to do anything as 24th in the qualification – he only left behind the local Hongbo Gao. The man from Zurich competed with a torn cruciate ligament and had to abandon both runs.
Shaun White, the three-time Olympic champion in the halfpipe (2006/2010/2018), made the cut at the last minute. After a botched start, the now 35-year-old US veteran amazed with 86.25 points and can prove himself again on the big stage.