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Beijing Round-Up Day 11: Muir & Summerhayes’ Olympic Adventure Continues

Kirsty Muir and Katie Summerhayes both progressed to the Slopestyle Finals, while Katie Ormerod bowed out in the Big Air

Slopestyle sees Brits safely through

After seeing their Freeski Slopestyle Qualifying competition postponed due to heavy snow on Sunday morning, Kirsty Muir and Katie Summerhayes both booked their place in the Final with solid scores in the rescheduled Qualifying Round last night. Muir notched a 70.11 to qualify from sixth spot, while Summerhayes’ 66.56 was good enough to secure 10th and a place in the Final.

With the top-12 skiers qualifying, Muir and Summerhayes’ progress means Britain are one of only two nations, alongside the USA, to have dual representatives in Tuesday morning’s Final.

For Summerhayes, it represents her third shot at the Olympic Slopestyle Final, having taken 7th in the competition in both Sochi in 2014 and PyeongChang in 2018. Meanwhile, Muir continues an Olympic debut to remember, with her second Final appearance following her fifth place in Freeski Big Air.

Ormerod bows out in Big Air

Katie Ormerod saw her delayed Olympic debut draw to a close, falling short in Qualifiers for the Snowboard Big Air. She looked in good shape after her second jump, but failed to land the cab 900 on her final jump, ending up in 25th position.

Speaking afterwards, Katie said:

“It’s a shame that my results don’t reflect the kind of snowboarding I do. 

“Just a few weeks ago, I came fourth against the same girls in slopestyle. It’s just how it goes – some courses suit me better than others, sometimes it’s just how it goes. 

“I’m hoping that people will see the other results that I’ve got over the last four years and be proud of that as well.

“To compete I had to overcome so many demons to even get to the start gate knowing that four years ago I almost ended my career in an accident at the Olympics [in training]. 

“It was really challenging to do that and I worked so hard over the last four years to get back here and prove that it is possible to come back from a bad injury and realise my dream of competing at an Olympics.

“The thing I wanted to do here was to inspire back home and show how fun snowboarding is and I know I have already done that from the messages I’ve got.”

Header Image: Kirsty Muir during freeski Slopestyle qualification at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games on the 14th February 2022 at Genting Snow Park in Zhangjakou, China. Photo by Sam Mellish / Team GB.