Day two of the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games saw Andrew Musgrave achieved Britain’s best-ever Olympic cross-country skiing result, Adam Rosen and Rupert Staudinger complete their luge campaigns and Aimee Fuller progress to the final of the women’s snowboard slopestyle despite not needing to compete in South Korea.
- Andrew Musgrave came close to securing Britain’s first Olympic cross-country skiing medal before eventually finishing seventh.
- Adam Rosen finished as the highest British luger at PyeongChang 2018, placing 22nd while Rupert Staudinger was 33rd.
- Aimee Fuller will compete in the final of the women’s snowboard slopestyle after high winds caused qualifying to be cancelled, with all athletes progressing to Monday’s medal event.
Cross-country skiing
British skier Andrew Musgrave showed his Olympic medal potential in the men’s skiathlon on Sunday.
Musgrave finished seventh in the men’s 30km skiathlon as Simen Hegstad Krueger led home a Norwegian clean sweep, to underline just why they call it Nordic skiing.
It was Britain’s best-ever Olympic result in the sport but Musgrave wasn’t happy. And he’s vowed to crack the podium in Friday’s 15km event – his main target here in South Korea.
“It’s a decent result but I’m not at the Olympics to come seventh. I’m here to fight for a win,” said Musgrave, who finished fourth in the 50km free at last year’s World Championships.
“If you told me ten years ago I would be seventh in the Olympics, I wouldn’t have thought I would be disappointed with it. But that is what makes an athlete – you want more.
“I’m a little disappointed, I felt really good. I felt awesome with about a lap and a half to go and I felt that I would be in the fight for the victory.
“That’s why I do this. I think all the guys at the top, if you don’t believe you can win, then you’re not going to spend the thousands hours out training, suffering every week through interval sessions and pushing our pain limits every session.
“You don’t do that if you don’t believe you can win.”
Elsewhere fellow Brit Callum Smith recorded a personal-best finish of 57th after overcoming a fall on the opening lap.
“Unfortunately I got brought down in a crash which was a bit frustrating but I felt I skied really well later on to bring a few places back.
“Generally I’m happy with where my form is now and I’m looking forward to Friday. I think I can do a good race there.”
Luge
Luge athlete AJ Rosen cut a disappointed figure as he came short of registering a personal best on his third Games appearance.
The Brit was lying in 24th overnight, within touching distance of 16th and where he finished at both Turin 2006 and Vancouver 2010.
But he was only able to climb two places to 22nd after Sunday’s third and fourth runs, finishing with a combined time of 2:25.1567.
“It is a huge let down to myself. I felt like I was just there, I tried my hardest,” he said.
“But it’s such a huge honour, no matter how many times you’ve been to the Games, every single time it is a huge, huge bonus and I can’t begin to say how privileged I am and what an honour it is for me.”
His teammate Rupert Staudinger meanwhile placed 33rd on his Olympic Games debut, clocking a time of 2:27.842.
“I finished on a high note, it wasn’t the cleanest run but the ice was so hard. It was a rough day yesterday and finishing today with a solid run gives me a good feeling,” he said.
“I’m so proud to be part of this amazing Team GB. The environment and everything all around it is just an incredible feeling.
“I’m still super pumped and I can’t way to watch the others now and support them in their races.”
Snowboarding
Aimee Fuller will compete for a medal on Monday after the entire field progressed through to the final of the women’s snowboard slopestyle.
That came after heavy winds at the Phoenix Sports Park saw the heats initially postponed, before eventually being cancelled, with Games organisers allowing all competitors through.
Report courtesy of the BOA
