British skier Kirsty Muir, 17, reaches big air final at Winter Olympics
Seventeen-year-old British freestyle skier Kirsty Muir has qualified for the women’s big air final at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.
Muir, from Aberdeen, finished seventh in the heats but team-mates Katie Summerhayes missed out on the final by one place in 13th.
Team GB’s James Woods, a former Winter X Games champion, failed to reach the final of the men’s big air event.
Muir was relieved to pull off a dub 12, her favoured move, after crashing when trying it during practice runs.
“A dub 12 is two flips and then one-and-a-half degrees of rotation, then I grab the skis just behind my boot,” said Muir.
“That’s my best trick, and I wanted to land it on my first run.
“I was so happy. Really excited to be in the finals. It’s a dream come true. I just can’t believe it.”
Muir won silver in this event, which is making its debut at the Winter Olympics, at the Winter Youth Olympics four years ago.
She is also competing in the slope style discipline, in which she has had more senior success, in Beijing.
Muir, who started skiing aged three and moved to freestyle aged seven, goes in the big air final at 2am UK time on Tuesday morning.
“I can clean up the grabs and there’s a few little things I could improve on so I just want to go ski my best in the final,” she added.
“I’m really happy with how I did that dub 12 and if I can do that tomorrow I’ll be really happy.
“Everyone goes to a final with hopes of doing their best and just seeing how it goes and that’s what I want to do.”