Sinclair competes in the women's snowboard halfpipe qualifying at the Rosa Khutor Extreme Park. Photo / AP
New Zealand snowboader Rebecca Sinclair crashed in both her qualifying runs
and failed to progress to the semifinals of the halfpipe event at the Sochi Olympics overnight.
Sinclair crashed performing a 'crippler' trick during her first ride and was unable to complete the run. Her initial score of 32.25 left
her in 13th place in her heat of 14 riders.
The top three riders in each heat would gain direct qualification to the finals while the fourth through to ninth placed would face semi-final rounds in their bid to make the final 12.
With the pressure on to improve her score to within the top nine, Sinclair pushed hard for the big moves in her second run. All went well for the first three hits before she crashed out a second time, attempting a backside 540. Sinclair upped her score to 48.25 but by the end of the heat her 11th place was not enough to progress any further.
"This was definitely not the result we were hoping for at all and definitely not the result Bex is capable of," commented her coach Tom Willmott. "We're really gutted, she's really disappointed."
