Featured Image: Courtesy of U.S. Ski Team | Skier: Svea Irving
The Livigno Winter Park continues to get hammered by winter storms, which normally wouldn't be a problem for skiers, but the men's halfpipe qualifications had to be postponed earlier in the day. Fortunately not the case for the women, who lined up at the top of the pipe under the lights. Eager to qualify in the top 12, each of the 21 women felt the pressure to throw down a perfect run with only two chances to get a score high enough to move on.
Eileen Gu (CHN) kicked off the competition, starting with two massive back-to-back 900s but then clipped the deck on her third hit and lost a ski. She popped right back up but created extra pressure for herself to put it down on her second run. Cassie Sharpe (CAN) is back from giving birth two years ago for her third Olympics and her veteran experience shone bright on her first run. Dropping in like the supermom she is, Sharpe boosted two 900s and a mega 1080 to safely secure a spot in finals with an 88.25. Zoe Atkin (GBR) set the bar for the night, though with crazy big amplitude—reaching over 15 feet in above the deck on her first hit—and keeping that speed and height as she made her way down the pipe for a 91.50.
Run two left quite a bit on the table for some athletes, including Gu, who had one last chance to put down a clean run and qualify for finals. That she did, with a score of 86.50. China's Fanghui Lui put on a hell of a show with a big air to fakie, multiple switch hits and a double grab—something we haven't seen from any of the other women—to put her in second with a 90.00. Svea Irving (USA), sitting in eighth after the first run, came out aggressive on her second run to improve her score, which she did with a sick switch 720, but it didn't improve her position. American Katie Gray eked her way into the top 12, pushing herself just a little bigger and faster than her first run and it paid off. Sharpe took a scary slam on her second run and had to be taken out of the pipe on a medical stretcher. We wish her all the best and hope to see her in the finals on Saturday.
It was exciting to see Kelly Sildaru (EST) back in the big show; she just didn't have the amplitude to compete with the level that women's halfpipe skiing is at but it's incredible that she's been doing this for over a decade and she's only 24. Another honorable mention for the night is American Abby Winterberger. At 15 years old, Winterberger is the youngest Olympian at the 2026 Winter Olympics and the youngest since Tara Lipinksy in the 1998 games. She came out in quailfiers swinging confidently for the fences. Her first Olympic experience ends at qualifiers but commentator Tom Wallisch brought up a great point—she'll still be a teenager for the next Winter Olympics and we're excited to see where the rising star lands.
Women's Halfpipe Qualification Results, Top 12 Move on to Finals:
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