Aussie snowboarders Meila Stalker, Tess Coady snare spots in Milano Cortina big air final
Aussie snowboarders Meila Stalker and Tess Coady are set to compete for medals in the women's big air final at the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics after progressing through qualifying on Monday morning (AEDT).
Australia's Ally Hickman, making her Olympic debut at the age of just 16, was on track to reach the final after producing a superb opening run, before tumbling out of the top 12 over the remainder of qualifying.
Stalker finished sixth in the 12-woman qualifying with a total score of 165.
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Australia's Meila Stalker in action during qualifying. AP
The 22-year-old from Queensland's Sunshine Coast opened with a score of 19.25, before fighting back with scores of 82.25 and 82.75.
Coady, the slopestyle bronze medallist at Beijing 2022, scraped into the big air final at Milano Cortina by just 0.75.
The Melburnian logged scores of 78.50, 55 and 75 for a total score of 153.50.
Coady, as the first rider up in each of the three segments, had to endure a painful wait to see if she'd qualified.
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"I'm feeling pretty good now. I'm kind of glad it's over, to be honest," the 25-year-old told Nine.
"It's just the worst when you have to wait and see if you're going to make it through.
"But I'm super stoked to go through to the final."
Hickman began her campaign with a score of 85.25, but scores of 61.75 and 64.25 followed as she dropped to 15th.
The rising star from Sydney will go again in the slopestyle event on her Olympic debut.
Stalker and Coady will compete in the big air final from 5.30am on Tuesday.
