Source: Radio New Zealand
Canada’s Cassie Sharpe receives medical assistance after crashing during the women’s freestyle skiing halfpipe at the Winter Olympics. 2026. KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP
Auckland freeskier Mischa Thomas has qualified for the final of the halfpipe at the Winter Olympics.
The 17 year old landed a score of 77.00 in her first run and followed that up with a slightly improved 77.50 in her second.
With the best score from the two runs counting, Thomas qualified tenth.
The field had to contend with falling snow during the competition and Thomas said it provided some challenges.
“It was a run I was pretty comfortable doing, I’ve done quite a few times,” she told Sky Sport.
“The pipe was still fast and it is kind of scary to see what it is going to be like when it’s not snowing. It was a little bumpy so just had to manage that, but you get given what you’re given and you just have to deal with it.”
Zoe Atkin of Great Britain topped the qualifying with a best score of 91.50, while defending champion Eileen Gu of China qualified fifth with a score of 86.50.
The competition was paused for 15 minutes when Canadian Cassie Sharpe, who won halfpipe gold in 2018 and silver in 2022, fell and appeared to knock her head. She received medical attention but still qualified third.
The final is on Sunday morning.
New Zealand freeskier Mischa Thomas competes in the halfpipe at the Winter Olympics, 2026. KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP
Heavy snow again forced organisers to change the schedule with qualifying for the men’s freeski halfpipe pushed back a day.
It means Fin Melville Ives, Luke Harold, Gustav Legnavsky and Ben Harrington will start their qualifying on Friday night with the final scheduled for Saturday morning.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
