Freestyle skier Grete-Mia Meentalo takes Calgary world champs bronze
Estonian freestyle skier Grete-Mia Meentalo won the bronze medal in slopestyle at the Junior World Championships in Calgary.
Four years ago Meentalo, 17, had finished fifth at the same championships, when they were held in Switzerland.
At last month's Milan–Cortina Olympic Games where she competed alongside her compatriot Kelly Sildaru, Meentalo placed 17th in qualification, and did not advance to the finals.
As for the Calgary qualification held a few days earlier, Meentalo scored 82.25 points.
At the main event, Meentalo earned 78.00 points for her first run in the final, placing her second after the opening round. In the second outing she posted a score of 80.25 points but still dropped to third overall. Her third attempt did not improve on her third place, but neither did any other competitor overtake her, clinching the bronze for the Estonian. Australia's Indra Brown (92.00) took gold and American skier Lainey Steen (86.75) won silver.
Estonian freestyle skiing has been back in the sporting headlines again of late after Henry Sildaru, Kelly's younger brother, took silver in the halfpipe at the Milano Cortina games. This was the sole medal for Estonia at the recently concluded Winter Olympics.
The slopestyle is one of three categories of freestyle skiing and involves performing tricks while navigating a course filled with obstacles such as rails, boxes, and jumps. The other two categories are the halfpipe and the Big Air event.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Siim Boikov
