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Winter Olympics 2018 Day 2 live: Britt Cox, Tess Coady lead Aussie charge

Britt Cox admits she let it all hang out as she went for Olympic gold but that move may have cost her a medal.

Nicole Jeffery and Paul Johnson
15 min read
1:03AMFebruary 12, 2018
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Britteny Cox of Australia is clossing in on Olympic medal. Picture: Getty
Britteny Cox of Australia is clossing in on Olympic medal. Picture: Getty

12:59am: Cox goes big and goes home medal-less

Australia’s world champion Britt Cox has missed a medal in the women’s moguls after overcooking her final run in PyeongChang.

Cox was shaky on both her jumps and her speed through the course could not make up for the errors.

She finished fifth (75.08 points) as France’s 19-year-old Perrine Laffont claimed the gold medal (78.65), narrowly defeating the defending Olympic champion of Canada Justine Dufour-Lapointe (78.56)

Kazakhstan’s Yulia Galysheva (77.40) took the bronze, while Australian teenager Jakara Anthony finished fourth on her Olympic debut (75.35).

With heavy snow falling on the course at Bokwang, Cox looked primed for glory after qualifying in second place for the medal round.

However her bid to jump bigger and go for the gold medal backfired when she landed off-balance and took several turns to get into her skiing rhythm. She landed with her weight too far forward on her second jump and that was the end of her medal challenge.

Cox, 23 and competing at her third Olympics, took the disappointment in her stride.

“My goal going into today was to go for it and I truly believe I did that tonight,’’ Cox said.

“I pushed it a little too hard in super-final and it was a little bit scrappy. This is the Olympics. I went big and I skied fast and it didn’t pay off.’’

Anthony, from Barwon Heads in Victoria, announced herself as a future medal contender, skiing well above her world ranking to finish fourth on her Olympic debut.

“It’s a great result and I am so happy (but) it’s bittersweet just missing the podium,’’ she said.

Laffont, who finished second to Cox at last year’s world championships, put down a flawless run when it counted most to become the Olympic champion.

Earlier in the top 20 final, Anthony emerged as a real contender, putting together her best run of the Games to score 76.18 points and slot into fourth place, just ahead of her world champion teammate Cox (75.79) in fifth.

But Cox stepped up in the next knock out round, skiing fast and aggressive to go through to the final six in second place (78.28 points).

When Anthony joined her in fifth place (76.85), they made a little bit of history, giving Australia two women in the final for the first time.

Anthony needed to fight her way through the second qualifying round at the start of the night in 13th place.

Fellow Australian Madii Himbury also progressed to the finals and finished in 20th.

12:24am: Cox, Anthony fail to medal

Frenchwoman Perrine Laffont. has taken gold for France in the women’s moguls as Britt Cox and Jakara Anthony made the final six but failed to medal.

Anthony just couldn’t quite keep it going on the final run, recording her lowest score of the night with a 75.35 as she attacked the course after Kazakh Yulia Galysheva opened the final with a 77.40.

Defending champion Dufour-Lapointe then put down a beautiful run to score a 78.56 before Laffont took to the slopes with a smooth run to record a 78.56 and pip the Canadian.

It was then up to Cox and the Australian attacked the course with gusto but a bobble of the skis after her top air cost her dearly as she recorded a 75.08, her shot at an Olympic medal done.

From there Andi Naude was the last with a shot at gold for Canada and she lost control after the opening jump and failed to complete the course.

GOLD: Laffont (FRA)

SILVER: Dufour-Lapointe (CAN)

BRONZE Galysheva (KAZ)

11.50pm: Cox speeds through run 2, as does Jakara Anthony

Britt Cox has charged down the course in the fastest time of the second finals run and recorded a massive score of 78.28 to qualify for the final six and get her chance to ski for gold.

And she is joined there by 19-year-old Jakara Anthony, who’s turns have been amazing as she competed in her first games to show she is a future star of the sport.

The young Australian scored a 76.85 to put herself behind Cox, Canada’s Andi Naude and Frenchowman Perrine Laffont.

Joining them in the final are Justine Dufour-Lapointe and Kazakh Yulia Galysheva.

11.29pm: Meanwhile... luge crash for Angelov

11.24pm: Cox throws down

Britteny Cox took up the challenge that Jakara Anthnoy threw down and put in a solid run. Agressive from the start Cox got a little bit loose after her first jump and went faster than anyone else had to that stage through the course to put down the third best score with a 75.79.

Anthony had been pipped for top score by Americans Jaelin Kauf and Keatin McCargo.

Kauf’s 78.73 easily the best score of the opening finals round.

11.12pm: Anthony goes huge

Jakara Anthony has done it again, throwing down a massive run to score 76.81 and guarantee herself a spot in the second round of the women’s moguls finals.

Anthony flew down the course throwing a 360 and a big tuck reverse while keeping her technique flawless.

Unfortunately Madii Himbury is out of contention.

11.01pm: Himbury up against it

Maddi Himbury went huge in her attempt to make the final 12 with a big air to finish her run but some slow turns may have let her down as she recorded a 68.19 which may make qualifying tight

10.45pm: Luge gold appears to be on Loch

Germany’s luge star Felix Loch looks set for a fourth Olympic gold in the luge despite the best efforts of American Chris Mazdzer, who set a track record on his third run to move into second overall.

Sadly Australia’s Alex Ferlazzo had a run to forget sliding into the wall out of turn four and losing time for a 49.531 to miss out on sliding in the final run as the big guns go for the medals.

9.50pm: Aussie Jakara Anthony sets slopes alight

19-year-old Australian, Jakara Anthony has charged into the women’s moguls final with a sizzling run in round two of qualifcation.

The Barwon Heads teenager, threw down a big 360 on her first jump and nailed some fast turns with good technique to score 73.35 and join Britt Cox in the final.

Madii Himbury then had her chance to make the finals and made a big mistake straight out of the gates but recovered through the middle part of her run to score a 69.38 and improve one spot on her opening run, where she scored 68.98.

Himbury then had a nervous wait when Germany’s Katharina Foerster pipped her with a 69.38 before Ukraine’s Tetiana Petrova eased Himbury’s nerves with a crash off the first jump.

Next up was fellow Aussie Claudia Gueli, who had a great run going but caught the edge of her skis midway through her turns and crashed into a gate, ending her finals hopes.

American teenager Tess Johnson then put down the best score of Q2 with a 75.33 to make Himbury nervous as Frenchwoman Camille Cabrol left the gates, but she too crashed out losing her run through the middle section as three Aussie women made the 20-woman final.

8.07pm: Sven Kramer claims Olympic record and long-track gold

Sven Kramer is considered the king of the long track for a reason.

The big Dutchman broke New Zealand hearts by skating to gold in the men’s 5000m long track race in Pyeongchang as he collected his fourth Olympic gold.

Kramer, in taking gold broke his own Olympic record by one second, in a time of 6:09.76 to edge out Canadian world record holder Ted-Jan Bloemen and Norway’s Sverre Lunde Pedersen - after that duo raced to a near dead heat, split by just 2/1000s of a second.

Try splitting Ted-Jan Bloemen of Canada, right, who crosses the finish line a fraction of a second before Norway's Sverre Lunde Pedersen. Picture: AP
Try splitting Ted-Jan Bloemen of Canada, right, who crosses the finish line a fraction of a second before Norway's Sverre Lunde Pedersen. Picture: AP

New Zealander Peter Michael had earlier put himself in the gold medal position and the chance to be the Kiwis’ first medallist at the Winter games since Anellise Coberger won silver in the slalom in Albertville, France in 1992.

New Zealand's Peter Michael competes during the men's 5,000m speed skating. Picture: AFP
New Zealand's Peter Michael competes during the men's 5,000m speed skating. Picture: AFP

But it wasn’t to be - with just six skaters to go Michael had the gold medal position but first Bleoman and Pedersen blew past him before Kramer took him out of the pictrure for a frustrating fourth.

6.30pm: Norway sweep men’s Skiathlon

Gold, silver and bronze Norway.

The Norweigan men dominated the 30km event as Simen Hegstad Krueger took the country’s first gold of this Olympic Games in 1:16.20, eight seconds clear of Martin Johnsrud Sundby with Hans Christer Holund a further two seconds back.

Incredibly Krueger recovered from a fall at the beginning of the event to come back and win the race in a Herculean performance.

Just seconds after the mass start began and with skiers still bottled up in lines, Krueger appeared to slip in mid-stride and his right ski came out from under him, causing him to fall to the ground. The two skiers directly behind him - Andrey Larkov and Denis Spitsov, Russians competing under the Olympic flag - couldn’t stop and toppled over him in a heap.

Huge crash at the start
Huge crash at the start

The result will lift Norway to second on the medal table with one gold, four silver and two bronze, to be behind Germany, who have two gold and no other medals.

Australia’s Callum Watson finished the race in 58th, eight minutes and 55 seconds behind Krueger

4.30pm: Mother Nature 1, snowboarders 0

And another one bites the powder.

Organisers have announced the women’s snowboard slopestyle event has been postponed until tomorrow due to the weather.

Aside from the bone-chilling temperatures — it was -23C when competition kicked off this morning — gusty winds are making conditions less than favourable at the Phoenix Snow Park.

The event has been rescheduled to 10am tomorrow, local time (noon AEDT)

A fan sits alone at the 10,200-seat capacity Phoenix Snow Park, where wind is playing havoc with the schedule.
A fan sits alone at the 10,200-seat capacity Phoenix Snow Park, where wind is playing havoc with the schedule.

4.01pm: Ice dancers making it look easy

There are some incredible things going on in the figure skating program at the Gangeung Ice Arena right now.

This spinning move by Japanese partners Miu Suzaki and Ryuichi Kihara in the pair free skating event is breathtaking.

Seriously, is there a more exhilarating sport to watch?

Nicole Jeffery 3.35pm: More weather havoc

The women’s slopestyle qualification round has now been delayed by at least 40 minutes due to high winds.

It’s the second event delay forced by the weather today, after the men’s downhill was postponed until Thursday over the gusty conditions.

Nicole Jeffery 3.19pm: Heartbreak as Tess Coady withdraws with injury

Australian teenager Tess Coady has been withdrawn from the women’s slopestyle competition after injuring her knee in her final training run before the event.

Coady is now with the Australian team doctors who are assessing her injury.

Channel Seven reports the 17-year-old over-rotated on a practice run and was taken from the Phoenix Snow Park.

The world junior champion was regarded as an outside medal chance in this event after earning her first World Cup medal in this discipline in Colorado next month.

Australia will no longer have a representative in this event as Coady’s teammate Jess Rich was also withdrawn earlier today due to a knee injury.

Both athletes will hope they recover in time to contest the big air event on Monday, February 19.

Snowboard slopestyle athlete Tess Coady has hurt her knee. Picture: by Steve Cuff
Snowboard slopestyle athlete Tess Coady has hurt her knee. Picture: by Steve Cuff

2.30pm: Women ski jumpers still battling for recognition

They were the Cinderella story of the Sochi Olympics, the women ski jumpers who were finally allowed to compete in the Games after a years-long struggle for equality. They had survived a court battle, proved their athletic prowess and knocked back endless excuses for why they couldn’t compete - including the suggestion that their reproductive organs might somehow be obliterated upon landing.

And yet four years later, amid the seismic cultural revolution in women’s rights, women ski jumpers at the Pyeongchang Olympics still find themselves fighting for parity. While the women are permitted to compete in one event - the normal hill - the men get three: the normal hill, the large hill and a team event.

Yuki Ito, of Japan, in practice at the Alpensia Ski Jumping Centre in Pyeongchang.
Yuki Ito, of Japan, in practice at the Alpensia Ski Jumping Centre in Pyeongchang.

“It’s like, ‘Here, we’ll give you a little piece,’ and then, ‘Go away, leave us alone,”’ says Lindsey Van, the now-retired American ski jumper who helped lead a discrimination lawsuit to get women jumpers into the Games. “I still think that it’s an old boys’ club.” In many ways, the fight for parity in ski jumping is emblematic of women’s fight for equal treatment across the Olympics: a process both plodding and frustrating to elite athletes repeatedly forced to prove they are worthy of competing at the top.

“Sports belongs to all humanity,” says International Olympic Committee Vice President Anita DeFrantz, who has waged a decades-long effort to boost gender equality in the Olympics. “There’s no reason to exclude women from any sport.”

Nicole Jeffery 2.06pm: A touch of Aussie luck?

Here’s a little preview of the red Boxing Kangaroo gloves that world champion snowboarder Scotty James will wear when he makes his run at glory in the halfpipe this week.

Here’s hoping he can get his mittens ont he gold.

Scotty James's red Boxing Kangaroo gloves.
Scotty James's red Boxing Kangaroo gloves.

Nicole Jeffery 1.40pm: Gold medallist at 17

Seventeen-year-old American Red Gerard has become the youngest man to win an Olympic snowboarding title, snatching the gold medal in the slopestyle event on his final run at Bokwang today.

Gerard, the youngest of five brothers (and second youngest of seven siblings) from Colorado, produced an exceptionally creative run over the course of rails and jumps, finishing with the flourish of a triple cork off the last ramp.

He clapped his hands in delight after landing his final trick, knowing that he had put himself in the medal mix.

He received a score of 87.16 points that took him past Canadian star Mark McMorris, who led after the second run with a score of 85.20.

McMorris fell on his final jump of his third run as he attempted to re-take the lead and fellow Canadian Max Parrot, the last man to compete, put together a clean technical run to claim the silver medal (86.00).

It was Gerard’s inventive use of the rails sections that particularly caught the eye.

“I try to be a little bit different than everyone else,’’ Gerard said leading into the final, and it paid off.

“He goes his own way all the time,” Swedish snowboarder Niklas Mattsson said. “He finds his own creative ways when he’s competing. I love his style.’’

Gerard’s victory could be a good omen for 17-year-old Australian Tess Coady, who is about to contest the qualifying round in the women’s event.

Gold medallist Redmond Gerard, right, of the US, celebrates with silver medalist Max Parrot of Canada during the snowboard men's slopestyle final on day two.
Gold medallist Redmond Gerard, right, of the US, celebrates with silver medalist Max Parrot of Canada during the snowboard men's slopestyle final on day two.

Nicole Jeffery 12.40pm: Coady prepares for debut

The youngest member of the Australian team, 17-year-old snowboarder Tess Coady, is due to make her Olympic debut in the slopestyle qualification round this afternoon, if high winds on the course don’t intervene. Coady, who weighs just 55kg, reported that her training days had been “a bit windy and it’s only meant to pick up’’. “Sometimes it definitely throws you about,’’ she said.

High winds have already forced a postponement today of the men’s downhill, regarded by many as the blue ribband event of the Games.

Racers risk being blown off a safe racing line on a course where they hit speeds of about 125 kph (75 mph). “Very strong winds, with gusts up to 72 kph (50 mph), that are forecast to continue all day have forced the jury together with (the Pyeongchang organising committee) to postpone the event,” the International Ski Federation (FIS) said.

Coady said: “Hopefully it won’t be too much of an issue for us’’.

“It definitely depends on if (the wind) is going up uphill or downhill. If it’s uphill it’s harder to get the right speed (for the jumps).’’ The Melbourne schoolgirl is planning to do a double backflip off the 20m-high final jump of the slopestyle course, weather permitting, at 3.30pm AEDT. The course includes three rails sections and three jumps with “pretty crazy’’ take-offs, according to Coady.

The good news for the world junior champion is that she appears to thrive in adverse weather conditions. She won her first World Cup medal (bronze) in Colorado last month in bucketing snow.

The news is less positive for Australia’s other slopestyle snowboarder Jess Rich, who has been forced to withdraw from today’s event due to a knee injury. Rich is still hopeful that she will have recovered sufficiently to compete in the big air event on Monday, February 19.

You can read more about Tess here.

Tess Coady in action during Slopestyle training ahead of her debut today.
Tess Coady in action during Slopestyle training ahead of her debut today.

11.55am: Downhill rescheduled

The men’s Olympic downhill postponed this morning has been rescheduled for Thursday, organisers said. The blue riband event of the alpine skiing progam was postponed because of high winds. It will now be raced on Thursday, with the men’s super-G moving a day back to Friday.

11.30am: North Korea’s charm offensive

North Korea’s cheerleaders have serenaded South Korean fans with tender love songs as a joint Korean ice hockey team’s emotional Olympic debut ended in tears before the sister of Kim Jong-Un. The first Kim dynasty member to visit the south since the 1950-53 Korean War, Kim Yo-Jong sat alongside South Korean President Moon Jae-in to watch the Koreans suffer an 8-0 shutout by Switzerland in PyeongChang overnight.

Left to right, IOC President Thomas Bach, North Korean ceremonial head of state Kim Yong Nam and Kim Yo-jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at Women's Ice Hockey.
Left to right, IOC President Thomas Bach, North Korean ceremonial head of state Kim Yong Nam and Kim Yo-jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at Women's Ice Hockey.

However, the result mattered less than the political symbolism as around 200 of North Korea’s famed “army of beauties” charmed a crowd of 3600 besotted locals with nostalgic oldies — and even broke out a Mexican wave.

The powerful Kim sister also attended Friday’s opening ceremony.

Decked out in red tracksuits and woolly hats, North Korea’s cheerleaders sang “uri nun, hana da” (we are one) and clapped in perfect unison as local hip hop artists rapped on a stage behind them and K-Pop blared over the loudspeakers in a stark clash of cultures.

The troupe have been dispatched south as part of a North Korean charm offensive after months of fiery rhetoric threatening nuclear war and provocative missile tests.

The ladies, all in their late teens or early 20s, are said to be handpicked from elite universities and undergo strict background checks.

Its most famous alumna is Ri Sol Ju, better known these days as the First Lady of North Korea. — AP

10.50am: Ratings gold

The opening ceremony on Friday night reached 27.8 million US viewers on NBC, a number that inched up to 28.3 million when digital viewers are added. While that’s down from the 31.7 million who watched the opening in Sochi four years ago, it has to rate as positive news for the network. The opening in PyeongChang had 6 per cent more viewers than the Summer Olympics ceremony in Rio de Janiero in 2016, and it was the most watched Friday night on television since Sochi’s first night four years ago. NBC’s viewership peaked at 31.5 million when the US team entered the stadium in South Korea.

10.30am: Weather goes downhill

The men’s downhill, the blue riband event of Olympic alpine skiing program in PyeongChang, was postponed Sunday because of high winds. “Due to the strong wind and unfavourable forecast for today, the men’s downhill is postponed to another date,” the International Ski Federation announced. The first race of the 11-event Alpine program was scheduled to begin at 12.50pm AEDT but organisers say the gondola lift carrying teams and officials up the mountain cannot be operated.

10am: ‘White favoured by judges’

Australian Scotty James’ claims of overly generous scoring for American legend Shaun White has been backed by another star snowboarder.

Scotty James in action in training. Photo: AAP
Scotty James in action in training. Photo: AAP

Flagbearer James caused a stir ahead of the Winter Olympics when he admitted to feeling “shafted” by being marked too harshly by judges while chief halfpipe rival White was overscored.

The pair met at a World Cup event in Colorado last month, with White earning a perfect 100 marker and James second on 96.25 despite landing a breakthrough switch backside double cork 1260.

James is the only rider who does the trick which involves three-and-a-half spins, and a blind entry and landing.

Former slopestyle world No.5 Aimee Fuller, who will compete for Great Britain in her pet event in PyeongChang today, said White was favoured by judges because of his icon status in the sport.

“Every snowboarder starts from the bottom and they earn their points,” Fuller said.

“Shaun White starts at the top and they deduct his points so unless he does anything in particular wrong, he’s staying at the top.

“He’s got Shaun White points.

“It’s not particularly fair, is it? But Shaun White has a glow. He walks in the room and everyone looks at him and that’s the same with his riding. He does stand out from the crowd.” One of the favourites in the halfpipe at the Winter Olympics, James admitted to having words with judges after recent competitions where he felt he was marked incorrectly.

“The biggest thing that frustrated me is that I have been working my whole life and I put my life on the line every day snowboarding and I work so hard and some silly people behind the desk dictate some score which is really frustrating for me sometimes,” he said.

“Honestly, I feel like there have been times when I feel like I have been a bit shafted.”

USA's snowboard athlete Shaun White. Photo: AFP
USA's snowboard athlete Shaun White. Photo: AFP

— AAP

9am: Day 2 — Aussies in action

Australia’s 2017 world champion Britt Cox will ski for gold in the final of the women’s moguls from 11pm AEDT ... but first, we have another qualification round to see if three other Aussies can join her in the final.

Jakara Anthony, Madii Himbury and Claudia Gueli will all compete in the second round of qualifying from 9.30pm AEDT tonight, with all three given a strong chance to be part of the 20-woman final later in the evening.

This afternoon (3.30pm AEDT), former junior world champion Tess Coady kicks off her 2018 Winter Olympics campaign in the qualifying rounds of the women’s slopestyle. She’s strongly favoured to progress through to tomorrow’s final.

Tonight (10pm AEDT), Townsville luge competitor Alex Ferlazzo has his third run in the luge, and he’ll need a big effort to move from 22nd overall currently into the top 20 to earn a fourth run in the competition.

And on the cross country course at 5.15pm AEDT, Callum Watson is in action in the 30km skiathlon.

Snowboard slopestyle athlete Tess Coady. Photo: Steve Cuff
Snowboard slopestyle athlete Tess Coady. Photo: Steve Cuff

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Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/winter-olympics-2018/winter-olympics-2018-day-2-live-britt-cox-tess-coady-lead-aussie-charge/news-story/079767c245b359e8dbfe5a1ef63569ff