WATCH: The 25-year-old from Comox wins for gold after placing first in qualifying round. Dean Stoltz has more.
UPDATE: Canadian freestyle skier Cassie Sharpe has won gold in the women’s ski halfpipe competition at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.
Sharpe, from Comox, B.C., finished with a score of 95.80 on a cool, sunny morning at Phoenix Park.
France’s Marie Martinod took silver after crashing in her final run, guaranteeing Sharpe the top spot.
American Brita Sigourney won bronze.
Sharpe was the last skier to compete in the three-run final after winning the qualifying session a day earlier.
She set the tone early in the final, getting a 94.40 in her first run down the halfpipe and following it up with a 95.80 in the second.
Stuart Robinson said he was definitely getting goosebumps and on the edge of his seat while watching Comox freestyle skier Cassie Sharpe qualify in first place Sunday for the medal round.
Robinson was Sharpe’s first competitive coach when she trained at Mount Washington from 2009 to 2014.
“She qualified with her safety run and then she’s like ‘let’s see what I got in my pocket for my second run’,” he added.
“It’s beyond a dream, a dream for us but a dream for Cassie,” said Simon Stubbs, past president of the Mount Washington Freestyle Ski Club.
Gold medal performance by #Comox’s @CassieSharpe. #FreestyleSkiing half pipe. @pyeongchang2018 @MountWashington @TeamCanada @CHEK_News pic.twitter.com/fPtGgWVQG5
— Dean Stoltz (@deanstoltzchek) February 20, 2018
Sharpe moved to Whistler in 2014 when the halfpipe became her specialty. Whistler has one of only two half pipes in western Canada.
She went on to win numerous world cup events and became a star at the X Games.
“The level of trick that she is pulling off in the halfpipe is well above, head and shoulders above everyone else,” said Stubbs.
Her former coach says his current students are inspired by Cassie Sharpe.
“I said to all the girls, you know there?s never been a better time to be a woman in freestyle skiing then it is right now,” said Robinson.
“Cassie and the girls are all making history every day that they ski.”
Dean Stoltz
