Canada's Cassie Sharpe soars into women's ski halfpipe final

By CBC Sports

Canada's Cassie Sharpe delivered a statement to the rest of the field in the women's ski halfpipe qualifications.

The 25-year-old soared into the final after posting the highest qualifying score. On her second run, the Comox, B.C., native topped her previous score with a 93.40 after landing a cork 1080, which features three full spins.

Sharpe was the only competitor in the field to successfully perform that trick on Sunday. 

[VIDEO src="54960"]

"I feel really confident, this pipe is amazing," said Sharpe, who won two World Cup events this season and is making her Olympic debut.

"My goal was to land my first run — that's the biggest thing for my confidence. If I don't land my first run, I have a hard time coming back from it. Once I did that, I wanted to qualify first so I could drop last in the final, and use that as my victory lap, which is the best feeling in the world."

France's Marie Martinod was second with 92.00 points and Brita Sigourney of the United States was third with 90.60 points.

Groenewoud fights through injury

Calgary's Rosalind Groenewoud also advanced despite competing with a broken arm. Her first run score of 73.20 was good for 11th place. 

Groenewoud is a two-time Winter X Games champion and a former world champion but has been slowed down in recent years by several injuries.

[VIDEO src="55379"]

Competing in her second Olympics, Groenewoud was able to secure her spot in Pyeongchang based on her results from the 2017 season.  

"My arm is sore, but I'm so lucky to have an amazing group of practitioners from Freestyle Canada here, helping me heal," said Groenewoud.

[VIDEO src="54997"]

"I feel my body a bit more when I'm stressed, and this is the first time since I hurt myself that I've skied four days in a row. I'm nine weeks into my recovery, and it's getting better. I'm hoping to come back strong for day five tomorrow."

The top 12 of 24 competitors advanced to Monday's final at 8:30 p.m. ET.