So in the end there was just as much drama in the women’s Olympic halfpipe final as there was in the men’s; the top four scores were within 1.25 points of each other. While the debate about the order in which they finished will no doubt rage on, it was Kaitlyn Farrington who ended up on top. Before, during and after the event, the internet did its thing.
Prior to the qualifiers, and after the shambles that the male riders had to put up with yesterday, a lot of folk were quick to point out the shocking state of the halfpipe. One of those was Nicola Thost, the very first women’s halfpipe gold medallist. She definitely gave it an optimistic slant on Facebook though (with her fellow ’98 champ Gian Simmen getting involved in the comments):
It was pretty clear during the build-up that Australia’s slopestyle and halfpipe rider Scotty James was backing his compatriot – and three-time Olympian Lesley McKenna was in the same corner:
Torah Torah Torah!! :)
— Scotty James (@scottyjames31) February 12, 2014
Good luck @TorahBright for ladies half pipe finals! Looking very strong in the qualies. #totallyboarding
— Lesley Mckenna (@LesleyMckenna) February 12, 2014
The lady herself was definitely up for the challenge:
However it wasn’t to be Torah Bright‘s day, with Kaitlyn pipping her to the win by 0.25 points. During the proceedings, Whitelines‘ man on the ground tracked down these yanks who were supporting Kaitlyn.
En route to the UK during the bulk of the event, Aimee Fuller was one of many who offered up their congratulations to K-Farr (as we’re sure no-one calls her) after her win:
Just landed! And GREAT news. So stoked to see the girl Tbird taking home the silver! yES @TorahBright #Sochi12014
— Aimee Fuller (@aimee_fuller) February 12, 2014
Oscar-winning director Lucy Walker, who was behind the recent Kevin Pearce documentary The Crash Reel, added a mention of the injured Arielle Gold to her message:
Congrats #halfpipe #sochi Gold @KaitlynFarr, S @TorahBright, B @Kellyclarkfdn, @hannahteter always a champ & speed recovery to @arielletgold
— Lucy Walker (@lucywalkerfilm) February 12, 2014
Kaitlyn’s victory wasn’t without its critics, of course. Speaking on the BBC, Ed Leigh made his feelings clear:
Kaitlyn Farrington’s first two jumps were technical, but they weren’t that clean and they weren’t that high. Torah’s run wasn’t as clean as she could do, there were a couple of mistakes there, but she was technically brilliant and carried the speed through her whole run. To me, Torah was the whole package.
Others (Aussies, mostly) were a bit more blunt:
No fucking way!?!?? 91.50?? #TorahBright #bestrun #2ol
— Rune Johnsen (@johns1rune) February 12, 2014
Danny Davis, who trains with Torah and is team-mates with the rest of the podium, was understandably pleased with the final result:
As was Todd Richards, invoking the memory of the late Sarah Burke with his tweet:
I love this podium so much. Three of the most ripping and inspirational women in sport. Sarah would be proud !
— toddrichards (@btoddrichards) February 12, 2014
Finally, rather than getting into the who-won-what of it all, X Games commentator Sal Masekela summed everything up perfectly*:
Besides the KICK ARSE level of riding my fav part of women’s event tonight was their comradery. Their flag is SNOWBOARDING!
— Sal Masekela (@SalMasekela) February 12, 2014
* spelling aside.
