O’Connor’s hopes melt away in Sochi

Irish snowboarder Seamus O’Connor’s Sochi adventure came to a disappointing end yesterday as he narrowly failed to qualify for the final of the halfpipe discipline at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

The 16-year-old placed ninth in the semi-final, with only the top six progressing.

Overall, he finished in 15th place.

The day had begun brightly for the San Diego native as he impressed during his qualification heat. With a top-nine place needed to ensure a semi-final berth, O’Connor racked up a strong second run in particular — achieving a mark of 71.50 — the fourth-best score of the heat and O’Connor’s best tally of these Olympics. It was good enough for eighth spot and a place in the semis.

The next phase proved a tougher environment for the teenager.

O’Connor played safe with his first run, managing a respectable score of 54.00 and, in sharp contrast to many other riders, he stayed on his board.

O’Connor, though, knew his second run needed to improve to make the final. He had promised to go all out in Sochi and stayed true to himself, playing Russian roulette with the unpredictable terrain of the Rosa Khutor Extreme Park. The run was much improved but, unlike his qualification heat earlier in the day, he failed to land his ‘1260’ jump and hit the snow. A score of 43.00 meant his Olympic journey was over.

The youngster is Ireland’s very first Winter Olympic snowboarder and his performance in halfpipe, as well as his 17th place finish in the slopestyle event last weekend, points to a bright future ahead of the next Olympics in Pyeongchang in 2018. Switzerland’s Iouri Podladtchikov claimed victory in the halfpipe final, 15 year-old Ayumu Hirano of Japan took silver while his compatriot Taku Hiraoka took bronze. American superstar Shaun White was denied a third successive Olympic gold medal as he finished fourth.