Ski Cross, Women

The favorite was France’s Ophélie David, considered an icon in the sport, but one who started her Olympic career competing in Alpine skiing for Hungary in 1994. David was the 2007 World Champion in skiier-cross and came to Sochi with seven years atop the World Cup standings (2004-10), three World Championship medals, 26 World Cup wins, and 55 World Cup podiums. By now 37-years-old, she was hoping to cap her career with the gold medal she had missed in 2010.

Unlike many of the extreme events, most of the favorites progressed as expected and the final consisted of David, 2011 World Champion Kelsey Serwa of Canada, her teammate Marielle Thompson, the 2011/12 World Cup champion, and Sweden’s Anna Holmlund, a bronze medalist at the 2011 Worlds.

David took the lead early in the final and seemed on her way to that Olympic medal, but she flew too deep into the landing of a jump on the Kremlin section of the course and skidded out when she could not absorb the landing, allowing Holmlund to pass, her Olympic dream and her career ended. Holmlund could not hold the lead, as both Canadians passed her and Thompson held off Serwa for the gold medal, Holmlund taking bronze.