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Snowboarder Seamus O’Connor became the first Team Ireland athlete to ever compete in three Winter Olympic Games on Wednesday, finishing 15th in the Halfpipe with a score of 57.0.
Tess Arbez was also in action, finishing 48th overall in the Women's Slalom after two clean runs, in an icy event that saw 30 athletes marked as DNF.
Before the Slalom Arbez was determined to get two clean runs, after her disappointment in the Giant Slalom, where she was one of the non-finishers. Many of the favourites in the Slalom, such as top ranked Mikaela Shiffrin (USA) were caught out by the conditions and were listed as DNF.
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Arbez had finished 55th with 1:07.83 in her first run, but moved up to 48th overall with a time of 1:06.78 in her second run, giving a total of 2:14.61. Petra Vlhova (SVK) won the gold medal ahead of Austria’s Katharina Leinsberger in silver; Wendy Holdener (SUI) rounded off the podium with a bronze medal.
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In the Snowboard Halfpipe O'Connor scored his top result, 57.0 in the opening run with a ride that included a range of tricks which started with the backside air and ended with a front side double-cork 1080. The first run saw several of the top seeded athletes coming down and scoring low, and O'Connor went into the second run ranked 11th.
The Snowboard Halfpipe is a competition performed in a half tube of snow, where athletes are judged based on the tricks they perform in their run. They have two opportunities or run in the qualification rounds, with their best run counting.
The top 12 athletes advance to the finals where they can contest the medals. There are six judges who make assessments based on amplitude, difficulty, variety, execution and progression - the top and bottom scores are taken away, with the average score being the result for the athlete.
While disappointed to not better his first run, O’Connor relished the experience and opportunity to compete in this third Games:
“Snowboarding is, to me, the funnest thing in the world. And every day that I get to ride a snowboard, I’m thankful. My first run was a little bit sketchy. I had it down better yesterday, so I mean, I put it down and I was stoked for that. But I was really looking towards my second run to come back and clean it up and just put that Seamus signature on it.
“But something went wrong on the takeoff of my first trick on the second run. And I had to pull out of the double, which then ended the run for me. But it’s snowboarding and it’s never perfect. And that’s alright. I’m super thankful to be down there in one piece and to be in my third Games. Overall, it’s been an incredible experience.”
On Thursday Jack Gower will be the only Team Ireland athlete to compete, when he races the Alpine Combined, an event that includes Downhill and Slalom, with the overall standing being a combination of the two individual times.
Men’s Snowboard Halfpipe Qualifying
Top ranks going into final (12 to qualify)
First - Ayumu Hirano (Japan) 93.25
Second - Scotty James (Australia) 91.25
Third - Ruka Hirano (Japan) 87.00
15th Overall - Seamus O'Connor (IRL) 57.00
Alpine Skiing - Women’s Slalom
Gold - Petra Vlhova (SVK) 1:44.98
Silver - Katharina Liensberger (AUT) 1:45.06 (+0.08)
Bronze - Wendy Holdener (SUI) 1:45.10 (+0.12)
48th - Tess Arbez (IRL) 2:14.61 (+29.63)
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