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Acrobatic Skiing-Beijing 2022 Olympic Games
For connoisseurs, Kirsty Muir it has been the next big success story of British skiing for a while, but now the real secret has been revealed.
Muir, a 17-year-old freestyle skier, qualified in seventh place to reach Tuesday’s Olympic Big Air women’s final, but it looks like she had something in reserve.
Her first run, two dizzying turns with a one-and-a-half degree rotation from a 50-meter ramp at 60 mph, earned the second highest score of any competitor and some commendations from experienced hands.
That meant he might relax in his next two attempts to qualify with a place in the top 12 almost certainly, and then in the final take off his gloves, or rather, his mittens.
“That’s my best trick, the double 12-degree turn, and I wanted to do it on my first run,” he said. “I mightn’t land in practice, so now I’m really glad I did it clean.
“I am very happy and very excited to be in the final. It’s a dream come true, I really can’t believe it. My first Olympic Games, my first Olympic final, that’s all I wanted.”
In the shadow of five industrial cooling towers on the site of a former steel factory, Big Air Shougang is the first permanent headquarters in the world for these flying acrobats, an urban context for the X-Games generation.
And the youngest member of Team Great Britain did indeed give the impression of enjoying her debut in the Games, free from the weight of expectations and immersing herself in the experience.
Four years ago, she was already considered the best in Britain, but she had to watch the Olympics from her phone in the back of her parents ‘ car while driving through Aberdeenshire.
She was captivated when Swiss Sarah Hoefflin and Mathilde Gremaud faced off for gold in the slopestyle, now she will face them in the Big Air final, following her first tour full of twists and turns had a score of 89.25, more than any attempt by her heroes.
” Everyone goes to a final hoping to do the best they can, I just want to see how it goes, ” Muir added. ”I can pull in my grips and there are some little things I might get better at, I just want to ski the best I can in the final.”
Teammate Katie Summerhayes missed the chance to progress, while former snowboard world champion James Woods failed to land on two of his courses, meaning they will both set their sights on next week’s slopestyle competition.
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But Muir will go head-to-head with his idol Hoefflin, who lived for 10 years in the UK and qualified in the final with his last jump, although two places behind the British.
” I’ve always admired her and it’s great to be in the final with her, it’s a nice story, ” Muir added. “I met her when I was ten years old in the British Championship and I was delighted to see her career. She is an Olympic champion, but she is a lovely person and has done amazing things for the progress of women’s sport.
“I don’t think I feel any pressure from anyone, I just do what I can. In the end, all I have to do is give my best and try to ignore everything else. In the end, I’m the only person who can make myself proud.”
