Danielle Scott has been left reflecting on a near miss for another aerials medal at the Winter Olympics as the Australian team prepare for one final delayed push for glory from young star Indra Brown.
Brown, who is seeking become Australia’s youngest ever Winter Olympics medallist at just 16, was scheduled to compete in the freeski halfpipe final on Saturday night but more heavy snow in Livigno caused the event to be postponed until the final morning of competition on Sunday (Sunday night AEDT).
As Australia’s most successful Winter Games nears the end, the Australian team almost claimed a seventh medal as Scott, who won silver in her individual event, put up a lifetime best run in the mixed team aerials finals.
The 35-year-old, who was also named flag-bearer for the closing ceremony alongside moguls gold medallist Cooper Woods, pushed the team into contention alongside teammates Abbey Willcox and Reilly Flanagan.
The only team to feature two women and one man in their lineup, the Australian trio surprised the field to qualify third before finishing fourth in the final, falling just 23.64 points short of the podium.
The Australian team was at a disadvantage as male aerials flyers, attempting tricks with higher degrees of difficulty, are often scored higher than their female counterparts.
But Scott’s dazzling first run earned her 120.20 points, better than the 117.19 she posted in the individual final, higher than any other woman in the competition and bettered by only three men.
“That was pretty special,” Scott said. “I just wanted to put everything out there again and do the best for this team. I was way more nervous.”
With Willcox scoring 81.78 and Flanagan 87.06 to help them qualify, the Australians looked a chance to medal in the four-team final.
But even as Flanagan upped his game with his own lifetime best of 95.88 to lead Australia’s scoring on his final run, Scott’s 95.30 and Willcox’s 64.86 combined for 256.04 and it was not quite enough.
“To be in a final at the Olympics is huge for us, we really put everything on the line … I’m just proud of these guys,” said Scott, while Flanagan called his run “the best feeling in my life”.
The US team of Kahlia Kuhn, Connor Curran and Christopher Lillis proved untouchable with a victorious score of 325.35, with Switzerland (296.91) taking silver and China (279.68) bronze.
Frustratingly, Australia’s score of 289.04 from the opening run would have guaranteed bronze if they had managed to replicate it. They were also unfortunate to be without their double world champ Laura Peel, who had injured her knee at a pre-Games training camp.
“We’ll come back stronger, we’ll have more DD (degree of difficulty in the jumps) and hopefully some more guys on the team if anyone’s interested!” Scott said.
There’s still hope of one more medal to accompany the three gold, two silvers and a bronze already pocketed, with Brown a strong chance in her halfpipe final that also features China’s superstar Eileen Gu.
At the Cortina Sliding Centre, Australia’s top sledder Bree Walker finished 10th in the two-women bob alongside brakewoman Kiara Reddingius, while her German monobob rival Laura Nolte successfully defended her crown with Deborah Levi.
Earlier, Seve de Campo had slogged home in 41st place in the cross-country skiing 50km classic, more than 22 minutes behind the great Norwegian Johannes Høsflot Klæbo, who became the first Winter Olympian ever to win six golds in the same Games.
