Freestyle skiing: Huskova wins aerials gold for Belarus

[February 16, 2018]  By Jack Tarrant

PYEONGCHANG, South Korea (Reuters) - Hanna Huskova won the Olympic women's aerials to give Belarus their first gold medal of at the Pyeongchang Games on Friday.

Xin Zhang and Kong Fanyu of China took silver and bronze respectively.

The final consisted of three rounds, with the three lowest scoring athletes eliminated at each stage. The highest score from the final round won gold.

Once it reached the final six, reigning champion Alla Tsuper went for it all as she attempted the most difficult jump of the night – the back full-full-full – but crumpled on landing and ended up finishing fourth.

This opened the door for Huskova, who scored 96.14 to edge out Zhang and secure a second consecutive Olympics gold for Belarus in the women’s aerials.

Freestyle Skiing - Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics - Women's Aerials Finals - Phoenix Snow Park - Pyeongchang, South Korea - February 16, 2018 - Hanna Huskova of Belarus reacts. REUTERS/Issei Kato

Despite a relatively poor score of 70.14, Kong was able to clinch the bronze medal as all three other finalists fell on landing.

(Reporting by Jack Tarrant; Editing by Amlan Chakraborty)

[© 2018 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2018 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.