Today at the Games: Kenworthy Secures Britain’s best Olympic HP result as Richards Impresses on Debut

Kenworthy claims best-ever Olympic halfpipe finish on his fourth Games

After three years off-snow following the Beijing Olympic Winter Games in 2022, Gus Kenworthy returned to the biggest stage with a vengeance, producing his strongest ever Olympic Halfpipe result and Britain’s best ever Olympic Halfpipe performance to finish sixth the men’s Freeski Halfpipe finals.

Having qualified in ninth, the 34-year-old raised the bar when it mattered most. Stomping four doubles across five hits in the pipe, he posted an impressive 84.75 to secure his best Olympic finish in the discipline.

Although he was unable to land his final run to challenge for the podium, his result showed that Kenworthy has lost none of the flair, skill, and competitive instinct that has marked him out as one of the greatest Freeski athletes of all time, and proved a significant step in his late career renaissance, improving on his eighth-place finish at in Beijing 2022.

Competing at his fourth Olympic Games as the oldest athlete in the field, Kenworthy demonstrated his longevity, resilience and lasting legacy he has carved within Freestyle Skiing.

Speaking afterwards, Kenworthy said:

“It’s hard to know how to feel, sixth feels so close, so I’m pretty bummed.

“I went a bit conservative to get a safe run down, but then gave myself only one shot to go for it. In hindsight I should have probably given myself two tries for a full pull.

“Being back in the Olympics is special, so I’ll see you in four years.”

Richards impressive on Olympic debut

Liam Richards delivered a composed and promising performance on his Olympic debut, finishing in 17^thin the men’s Freeski Halfpipe qualifiers after two assured runs.

The 18-year-old approached the occasion with maturity beyond his years. Opting for a clean and controlled opening run to get a score on the board, Richards laid down a solid foundation before raising the intensity on his second attempt.

He set the tone with a huge switch right 900 tail, then stepped it up with a switch left double 1080 before moving down the pipe to deliver his trademark left double 1260.

Despite struggling with amplitude, Richards clean and technical performance was enough to earn him a score of 61.00 to cap an impressive first appearance on the sport’s biggest stage.