ºÙºÙÊÓƵ

Bronze for Brita!

Freeskiing Aggie Wins 1st Olympic Medal

News
Brita Sigourney holds U.S. flag behind her back.
Brita Sigourney celebrates her bronze-medal-winning run in the halfpipe in the Pyeongchang Games. (Sarah Brunson/U.S. Ski and Snowboard)

Brita Sigourney, the U.S. freeskier with Aggie roots, saved her best for last and won the bronze medal in the halfpipe in the Pyeongchang Games on Tuesday (Feb. 20), or Monday night where we live.

Brita Sigourney flies above halfpipe.
Brita Sigourney flies through the halfpipe in the final round, en route to winning the bronze medal. (NBC)

She skied cleanly on her first run in the final, scoring 89.80 — which put her in third place among the 12 finalists going into the second run. She skied clean again, scored an 88.60, and held onto third place going into the third and final run.

Each of the nine lower-scoring skiers had one more chance to break into the top three — the competition was decided by each skier’s best run of the day. None of them did — until Annalisa Drew, Sigourney’s teammate, who scored 90.80 to move into third place.

Next came Sigourney, who dropped in knowing the score she had to beat to secure a top-three spot — and she did so with a 91.60, earning her first medal in two Winter Games. She placed sixth in Sochi.

Olympics newcomer Cassie Sharpe of Canada led the whole way with scores of 94.40 and 95.80 on her first and second runs (she fell on her third run, but it did not matter), and Marie Martinod of France held second place the whole way to earn the silver just like she did in Sochi.

Sigourney’s parents Thad and Julie, graduated from ºÙºÙÊÓƵ in 1976, and brother Brendan graduated in 2009. Brita enrolled in 2008, but left early to join the newly established U.S. freeskiing team.

ºÙºÙÊÓƵ’ only other Winter Games medalist has a similar story: Jonny Mosely enrolled in 1995 but left school early to focus on his training that would lead to gold in moguls in Nagano in 1998.

Earlier coverage

Media Resources

Dave Jones, 530-752-6556, dljones@ucdavis.edu

Primary Category

Tags