Ukrainian freestylers Oleksandr Abramenko and Oleksandr Okipnyuk qualified for the finals in ski acrobatics at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. Another Ukrainian freestyler Dmitry Kotovsky also took part in the qualification.
Okipnyuk and Kotovsky received negative tests only the day before and were able to start.
According to the format of the men's aerial skiing tournament, the top six athletes on the first attempt advanced to the final, after which the competition continued and they had another attempt to improve their performance.
According to the results of the first attempt, Alexander Abramenko completed it with 120.36 points and qualified for the final fifth . But Okipnyuk and Kotovsky took the intermediate 22nd and 24th places. They kept their chances of reaching the final, but had to significantly improve their attempts.
Kotovsky almost succeeded. Dimitri jumped 114.03 points but failed to qualify for the final. But Okipnyuk, with the best result in the second attempt among other athletes, reached the final at the 2022 Olympics, was able to reach the final. The judges gave him a jump of 125 points. In general, Okipnyuk's result was the third best in qualifying after the Chinese Qi Guangpu and Jia Zuntian – 127.88 and 125.67 respectively.
In a comment to the Public, Olympic champion of the 2018 Games Alexander Abramenko shared his impressions of reaching the final.
– As at every Olympics, at the start there is a big jitters that you have to fight. It was difficult, but I managed. I did my jump very well, but the judges squeezed a few points. But I'm glad that it was enough to get into the top six. I watched every jump with excitement, because the judges are very harsh today,” said Abramenko.
But 23-year-old Okipnyuk said that because of the coronavirus he could not hold yesterday's training. He had only two workouts, after which he was quarantined.
Mentally, it was very difficult. I really wanted to get out. For me, as for any athlete, participation in the Olympic Games is a dream. Thanks to the Almighty. I stood at the start and thought about the jump so that I could do it well. Everything basically succeeded.
This is my first Olympics. I just got out of quarantine today. This jump today is the eighth time I have completed it. It has not been finalized yet, but almost everything turned out well. I messed up the landing a bit,” Okipnyuk said.
The final in ski acrobatics among men will take place on Wednesday, February 16th. The first final starts at 13:00 Kyiv time, and the big final is exactly one hour later.
Norway currently leads the 2022 Olympic medal standings with 12 gold, seven silver and seven bronze medals. The second is Germany, and the United States closes the top three.
