Gillings takes 8th in Olympic SnowboardcrossZoe Gillings took 8th place in the 2010 Winter Olympic Women's Snowboardcross held on Cypress Mountain near Vancouver yesterday.
Having blasted through the quarter finals in second place she just couldn't quite find a break to make get into first or second in her semi finals. Maelle Ricker, who appeared to have an engine on her board out of the start gate in her last three races, claimed gold for Canada in front of a delighted home crowd.
Zoe had qualified in 8th place of 25 women, giving her second choice of lanes in her quarter final amongst the top 16. She was up against fastest qualifier Swiss Meille Francon, who pulled clear. Zoe looked to have it sewn up for second after the third and fourth-placed riders tangled, but then it got a lot closer as Simona Meiler pulled back a huge gap. Zoe wasn't really dropping back from Francon, so Meiler found a lot of speed. Zoe shut the door into the last third of the course but had a jitter off the third to last kicker, causing us all to cover our eyes. Happily she decided not to and pulled back some speed into the last kicker to grab the essential second spot.
Other dramas: Francon and Lindsay Jacobellis wiped out - both had been seriously charging through qualifiers and quarter finals, but pushed too hard. Jacobellis got tangled up in the upper section of her semi, appeared to recover but was then spat out of the course like a stung horse and went through a gate.
In final heat to decide the 5th to 8th place rankings Zoe had to pull out due to a knee injury she had sustained in her semi final. It did look odd, though, because she literally pulled slowly out of the gate and then straight off the track, leaving commentators and viewers wondering what had happened. We were all looking forward to a ding dong with Lindsay Jacobellis, who blasted clear to claim fifth spot.
A quick word with her manager, Dan Brier, directly after the race revealed that she wasn't sure she'd have caught the top two in her semi without the knee injury because of the way the top of the course had panned out. More to come when we speak to Zoe later on.
On her second qualifying run, Zoe did impress the hell out of everyone by catching her edge over a kicker, going down for a slam and then, when barely above the ground, rolling into a frontflip and making light of the crash. Looking through all the other slams, in both men and women, everyoe else went down a lot harder. She's like a cat, that girl. Next time, Zoe, next time...
Watch the Winter Olympic Women's Snowboardcross quarters and semis here
More Olympic action tonight as the halfpipe qualis hit Cypress Mountain.
Read more about Zoe's Olympic journey:
Olympic Contender: Zoe Gillings
Gillings finishes 6th at Austrian World Cup
Posted by Online Editor - Wed, 17/02/2010 - 12:36pm
Zoe Gillings took 8th place in the 2010 Winter Olympic Women's Snowboardcross held on Cypress Mountain near Vancouver yesterday.
Having blasted through the quarter finals in second place she just couldn't quite find a break to make get into first or second in her semi finals. Maelle Ricker, who appeared to have an engine on her board out of the start gate in her last three races, claimed gold for Canada in front of a delighted home crowd.
Zoe had qualified in 8th place of 25 women, giving her second choice of lanes in her quarter final amongst the top 16. She was up against fastest qualifier Swiss Meille Francon, who pulled clear. Zoe looked to have it sewn up for second after the third and fourth-placed riders tangled, but then it got a lot closer as Simona Meiler pulled back a huge gap. Zoe wasn't really dropping back from Francon, so Meiler found a lot of speed. Zoe shut the door into the last third of the course but had a jitter off the third to last kicker, causing us all to cover our eyes. Happily she decided not to and pulled back some speed into the last kicker to grab the essential second spot.
Other dramas: Francon and Lindsay Jacobellis wiped out - both had been seriously charging through qualifiers and quarter finals, but pushed too hard. Jacobellis got tangled up in the upper section of her semi, appeared to recover but was then spat out of the course like a stung horse and went through a gate.
In final heat to decide the 5th to 8th place rankings Zoe had to pull out due to a knee injury she had sustained in her semi final. It did look odd, though, because she literally pulled slowly out of the gate and then straight off the track, leaving commentators and viewers wondering what had happened. We were all looking forward to a ding dong with Lindsay Jacobellis, who blasted clear to claim fifth spot.
A quick word with her manager, Dan Brier, directly after the race revealed that she wasn't sure she'd have caught the top two in her semi without the knee injury because of the way the top of the course had panned out. More to come when we speak to Zoe later on.
On her second qualifying run, Zoe did impress the hell out of everyone by catching her edge over a kicker, going down for a slam and then, when barely above the ground, rolling into a frontflip and making light of the crash. Looking through all the other slams, in both men and women, everyoe else went down a lot harder. She's like a cat, that girl. Next time, Zoe, next time...
Watch the Winter Olympic Women's Snowboardcross quarters and semis here
More Olympic action tonight as the halfpipe qualis hit Cypress Mountain.
Read more about Zoe's Olympic journey:
Olympic Contender: Zoe Gillings
Gillings finishes 6th at Austrian World Cup