Today at the Games: Muir and Brookes come close on day of near misses

MUIR SEALS PERSONAL BEST OLYMPIC RESULT IN FREESKI SLOPESTYLE

Kirsty Muir delivered the strongest Olympic performance of her career with a fourth place finish in the women’s Freeski Slopestyle final, missing out on a maiden Olympic podium by just 0.41 points.

Errors on her first two runs put the pressure on for her final lap, but the 21-year-old show composure and produced a standout series of rails before stepping it up on the jumps with a switch misty 9, right double 10 and finishing with her trademark left double 14.

The performance earned her a score of 76.05, leaving her a narrowly behind Canada’s Megan Oldham in a tightly contested battle for the bronze medal.

Muir will be back on the slopes on Saturday 14 February as she turns her attention to Big Air.

BROOKES BAGS FOURTH PLACE IN OLYMPIC DEBUT

Mia Brookes marked a sensational Olympic debut, finishing fourth in the women’s Snowboard Big Air finals and recording the best Olympic result for a female Team GB athlete in the event.

The 19-year-old put on a spectacular show, throwing her first ever backside 1620; the first flat 1620 by any female snowboarder. A small scrub on the landing ultimately cost her a podium place, but it was a landmark moment in women’s snowboarding.

Brookes was still able to put down a Cab 1440 and a backside 1260 on her previous two runs, earning a combined score of 159.50 and placing her firmly among the world’s elite in her first Olympic appearance.

Speaking afterwards, Brookes said:

“I gave it everything I could, that was a new trick that I have never even tried on snow, so I can definitely go home saying I gave it everything. I pushed myself way more than I would have done in any other comp tonight, so I am just stoked that I pushed myself through that and I am stoked I tried that trick to be honest. It’s gnarly trick and it’s high risk.”

“It was definitely quite nerve-wracking, you have got to give it everything you have got, because you only get once every four years to try it, so it is definitely a lot of pressure, but other than that, it is really chill.”

Brookes will now shift her focus to her preferred discipline, the women’s Snowboard Slopestyle which is coming up on Monday 16 February.