Kelly Sildaru wins bronze in Beijing

14.02.2022
Back
14.02.2022
Freestyle skier Kelly Sildaru has ended Estonia's 12-year Winter Olympics medals drought by bagging bronze in the Women's Freeski Slopestyle in Beijing.

After topping the qualification table, Sildaru, 19, finished third with 82.06 points, following Mathilde Gremaud (Switzerland, 86.56 points) and Eileen Gu (China, 86.23).  

Sildaru, who was also one of Estonia's two flag-bearers at the opening ceremony in Beijing, posted her 82.06 points on the first outing (of three) and initially led, though Gremaud overtook her in the second run and local hero Gu did so in the final run.

Sildaru's second attempt saw her lose a ski, a problem which had dogged her in the Big Air event last week, where she had failed to make it through qualifying.

Estonia's last Winter Olympics medals came in Vancouver in 2010, when cross-country skier Kristina Šmigun-Vähi won silver in the 10km event.