- Aimee Fuller finishes 17th – a repeat of her performance in Sochi – in women’s slopestyle.
- Laura Deas goes quickest in first day of official training at the Olympic Sliding Centre
- Alex Tilley must wait for Olympic debut after women’s giant slalom is postponed due to high winds.
Snowboarding
Aimee Fuller battled gusty conditions and admitted it was a tough day at the office at the Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang.
Windy conditions delayed the start of the women’s snowboarding slopestyle final and when competition finally got under way, it was a matter of survival.
Fuller finished 17th – the same as her position in Sochi four years ago – but admitted frustration that the weather Gods were not on her side, with a heavy fall on her final run.
American Jamie Anderson, who suffered a nasty crash in training, was in a different class to her rivals, throwing caution to the gusting wind to take gold. Canada’s Laurie Blouin took silver and Finland’s Enni Rukajarvi the bronze.
And Fuller was left to reflect on what have been. “My insides feel on my outside and I’m absolutely devastated,” she admitted. “That was a tough day at the office, some of the roughest conditions I’ve ridden in.
“It was not what I wanted, not what I expected and not what I dreamed of for my Olympic final. But it is what it is.
“There were huge gusts of wind. Some riders were very lucky. If you got a drop in the wind you could get through and have a cruisy run.
“In general, most struggled and I’m happy to see everyone’s in one piece. Looking at the long range forecast this was the best day to do it but, unfortunately, it wasn’t the best day for our sport.
“Wind plays a huge role, we’re flying over 30m jumps and if it gusts you’re going to go down. Some people got lucky and I didn’t.”
Fuller, Britain’s sole female representative following the injury to Katie Ormerod, will now reset her sights on the big air competition, which makes its Olympic debut next week at the Alpensia Ski Jumping Centre.
“I’m hoping that it’s a little more sheltered at the big air stadium,” she added. “Let’s hope the wind blows out of PyeongChang the next few days and it clears up for the British skiers and us for the big air next week.”
Skeleton
Laura Deas impressed on the first day of official training for the women’s skeleton, posting the second and first fastest times.
Olympic champion Lizzy Yarnold, fourth in the test event here in South Korea last year, was third and fourth fastest.”I love the track. It’s a joy to slide here,” she said.
Alpine skiing
Alex Tilley’s Olympic debut will be delayed to Thursday after the women’s giant slalom was cancelled due to high winds.
What to watch tomorrow …
Day four sees two Brits in action, with short track speed skater Elise Christie chasing her first Olympic medal in the 500m. The three-time world champion starts off with the quarter-finals from 19:00 (10am UK time).
Also competing on Tuesday is Andrew Young who gets his first outing of the Games in the men’s cross-country skiing sprint classic. Qualification is at 20:05 (11:05am UK time) with the final taking place at 21:34 (00:34 am UK time)
Report courtesy of Team GB
