After taking the world of freestyle skiing by surprise last month at the X Games, Olivia Asselin has once again proven that she is part of the world elite in the big jump (Big Air) in freestyle skiing.
On Monday, the Quebecer ranked 11and rank in qualifying at the Beijing Olympics to ensure its place in the final on Tuesday. Asselin first scored 60.75 points on her first jump as she made a small mistake on her switch 1080. The 17-year-old then landed her best jump of the day, a double 1080 to receive 87 points.
“It’s a lot of emotion, launched Asselin from the outset, in an interview with Sportcom. My first jump could have gone better, I didn’t get the score I wanted to achieve. I recovered well on my second jump to climb into the top twelve.”
On her third attempt, Asselin once again performed a 1080 switch, but she was unable to improve on her first attempt due to a fall. She concludes qualifying with a combined score of 147.75 points.
“I wasn’t sure of my speed on my last jump. I struggled at the start and wasn’t able to land well. I was afraid of being overtaken afterwards, but in the end the day ended well, ”continued the Quebecer.
Ontario’s Megan Oldham was the best in qualifying with 171.25 points. Asselin was not at all surprised to see her teammate achieve so much success in the first event of the Games.
“She skied really well, it was so beautiful to see. I’m super happy for her. Megan is still very consistent and it was certain that she was going to perform well today (Monday).
The French Tess Ledeux (171 points) and the Russian Anastasia Tatalina (163.25 points) completed the top-3 of the day.
Following this 11and place, Olivia Asselin assures that she is always hungry. She will do everything in her power to obtain a result that will satisfy her on Monday and, perhaps, get on an Olympic podium.
“I will give everything in the final! I want to do bigger jumps than in qualifying. I have a small idea of how to go about it, ”she concluded.
