Zhangjiakou (dpa) – For ski freestyler Aliah Delia Eichinger, the Winter Olympics in China are over. The 20-year-old clearly missed the final of the slopestyle competition.
In the end, the athlete from Sankt Oswald finished 17th in the qualification in Zhangjiakou. Only the twelve best athletes will fight for the medals on Tuesday.
China’s superstar Eileen Gu also has a good chance of winning a precious metal. The American, who competes for the Olympic hosts and won gold in the Big Air discipline last week, finished third in qualifying after a faulty first run. The best of the day was Kelly Sildaru from Estonia, the Swiss Olympic champion Sarah Höfflin surprisingly dropped out. The qualification was overshadowed by the fall of the American Marin Hamill, who was treated for a long time at the finish.
Eichinger crashed face first into the snow on the first run after a jump over the last ramp, but quickly got back up and gave a thumbs up. In the second run, the German, who also missed the Big Air final, received 50.68 points. “I’m just happy to have been at the Olympics and to have shown what I can do,” she said of the balance of her first games.
In slopestyle, the athletes glide over iron bars and jump over snow ramps on a demanding course. They show spectacular flight interludes – sometimes even backwards.