Sochi’s slopes come alive

The competitive action has kicked off at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games, with four NSWIS athletes hitting the slopes ahead of Saturday morning’s opening ceremony.

Headlining the first day of action was NSWIS athlete Torah Bright (@TorahBright) in the women’s snowboard slopestyle, one of three events she’ll contest in Sochi.

Revelling in the high pressure environment, the reigning Olympic half-pipe champion breezed through qualifying of the women’s snowboard slopestyle after posting a best score of 85.25 points. The strong result was enough to finish second from the qualifiers and move Bright straight into Sunday’s final.

Joining Bright in action were moguls skiers Britt Cox (@BrittyCox), Taylah O’Neill (@taylahoneill) and Nicole Parks (@Nicolejadeparks), with O’Neill and Parks making their Winter Olympic debuts.

Cox was the best placed of the NSWIS trio in 12th place, notching 20.19 points, with O’Neill and Parks scoring 18.57 and 18.49 to be placed 16th and 17th respectively. All three NSWIS athletes will contest the second round of qualifying on Sunday morning with a view to advance to the final.

In further news from Sochi overnight, NSWIS snowboard cross athlete Alex Pullin (@chumpypullin) was named as Australia’s flag-bearer for Saturday morning’s opening ceremony. The defending world champion is considered a strong medal contender in the men’s snowboard cross, which takes place in the second week of Olympic competition.