Kim Da-eun and Jang Yu-jin fail to advance in women's halfpipe

Olympic Sports

Published: 17 Feb. 2022, 13:28 Updated: 17 Feb. 2022, 17:02

Kim Da-eun and Jang Yu-jin fail to advance in women's halfpipe

Kim Da-eun competes in the freestyle skiing women's freeski halfpipe qualification run during the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games at the Secret Garden Olympic Halfpipe in Zhangjiakou, China on Thursday. [AFP/YONHAP]

Korea's Kim Da-eun and Jang Yu-jin failed to advance to the medal competition in the women's freeski halfpipe on Thursday, both finishing near the bottom of the table in the qualification event.

Halfpipe freeski is scored out of 100 by a team of five judges, with an average providing the final result. Judges consider five criteria when scoring each athlete's run: Amplitude — or height — difficulty, variety, execution and progression — or how innovative the sequence of tricks is. Athletes complete two runs, with their best score used in the final ranking.

Kim finished 17th out of 20 competitors at the Secret Garden Olympic Halfpipe in Hebei Province, China, scoring 44.50 on her first run and 45.50 on her second run. The second score, which put her at 14th for that run, was her best overall, leaving her at 17th place on the table. Kim was able to put in a stable performance, although her run was less technically complicated than the higher-ranking athletes.

Jang proved a lot less lucky, attempting to start her run with a 900-degree spin but clipping her ski on the way down and falling. The exact same trick also proved to be Jang's undoing on the second run, leaving her with a score of just 3.75 on the first run and 4.25 on the second run to put her at the bottom of the table.

Although Jang was left with a disappointing score, she was still able to leave the halfpipe with her head held high as she refused to be beaten, finishing her full run despite knowing she wouldn't get a score for it.

China's Eileen Gu lived up to the hype, finishing the qualifiers in first place with a best score of 95.50.

Korea's Lee Seung-hun will be next to tackle the halfpipe as the men's qualifiers begin at 1:30 p.m.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]