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Freestyle skier Kirsty Muir narrowly missed out on securing a Winter Olympic medal for Team GB once again, finishing in fourth place in the big air event. Her combined score was 174.75 points from her top two runs, just 3.5 points behind Flora Tabanelli of Italy, who took the bronze. This result came a week after the 21-year-old had come agonizingly close to a bronze in the slopestyle event, missing it by a mere 0.41 points.
The competition’s final was delayed by over an hour due to a heavy blizzard at Livigno Snow Park, with the event further impacted by the withdrawal of two Swiss athletes, including medal hopeful Mathilde Gremaud, due to injury. Having qualified in fourth place, Muir initially lagged behind, placing seventh after the first round as four competitors posted scores of 90 or above. However, her second run—a 1620 trick involving four and a half rotations—earned her 93.00 points, the highest score of that round, catapulting her into silver medal position temporarily.
Despite struggling early, China’s Eileen Gu, the defending champion competing in big air for the first time since her Olympic title victory four years earlier, managed a strong final jump that pushed Muir down to third. Gu celebrated eagerly, although several athletes still had chances to alter the standings. The competition’s climax saw Tabanelli land a massive score of 94.25 points, the night’s highest, moving close to silver position and increasing the pressure on Muir’s last jump. Choosing to attempt another complex 1620 trick with a different grab, Muir unfortunately failed to land it, leaving her reflecting on what could have been.
This fourth-place finish marks the fifth time Team GB athletes have narrowly missed out on a medal at the Milan-Cortina Games. Alongside Muir’s two near-misses, snowboarder Mia Brookes also finished fourth in the big air event, while Bruce Mouat and Jen Dodds, as well as Marcus Wyatt and Freya Tarbit, both took fourth places in mixed doubles curling and mixed team skeleton, respectively. Although some British athletes face challenges progressing further in their events, high hopes remain for freestyle skier Zoe Atkin, the current halfpipe world champion, who begins qualifying rounds on Thursday with the final scheduled for Saturday. While the team is striving to meet the medal target set by UK Sport, these Olympics are already notable with three gold medals won—Team GB’s highest total ever in a single Winter Games—including historic golds on snow from Huw Nightingale and Charlotte Bankes in mixed team snowboard cross, as well as double gold for Matt Weston in skeleton events
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