Livingston makes Olympic debut

February 12, 2014 · 0 Comments

By Brock Weir

Aurora snowboarder Derek Livingston made his Olympic debut in Sochi, Russia on Tuesday, taking on the world in the men’s halfpipe.

Mr. Livingston, 23, came in 19th in a field of 40 competitors in the heats. He came in 10th place in the qualification rounds at 2 p.m. local time, falling just one place short of moving on to the semi-final round. In his first run, he was given a score of 34.25, ranking 14th overall. He fared much better on his second run, with a score of 70.25 and a fifth place ranking.

At the end of the day, the Gold medal was awarded to Iouri Podladtchikov of Switzerland, Silver to Ayumu Hirano of Japan, and Bronze to Taku Hiraoka, also of Japan. Closely watched favourite Shaun White of the United States, who caused a stir just before the start of the Olympics after pulling out of a race, came in fourth.

For more on Derek Livingston’s Sochi experience, check back in next week’s issue of The Auroran.