Belle Brockhoff and Josie Baff experienced the highs and lows of sport when they took part in the women's snowboard cross at the Zhangjiakou Genting Snow Park.
Belle, now a triple Olympian, fought back from an opening run admittedly below her standards to secure a spot in the final and finish fourth overall.
While it wasn't the result she was aiming for, Belle had the whole of Australia along for the ride.
"I have a lot of fight in me, and the more the sport kicks me down the more I come back harder," Belle said.
"I did that (today), each lap I got better and better and better.
"But the final didn't go quite my way. I really did back myself in winning gold and I know I can beat these girls any other day.
"But sport's cutthroat and it just didn't fall into place for me."
Belle was assigned the 18th seed out of 32 competitors to begin the 1/8 finals based on her opening two runs, which by her own admission was well below her expectations.
But she delivered each time during the finals, outclassing many of the favourites to hold on until the end.
Her Aussie teammate Josie, who made her Olympic debut today as a 19-year-old, produced an opening run fast enough to finish in the top 16 and qualify straight through to the finals.
Despite not progressing past the 1/8 final, Josie has gained a lot of experience she'll carry through.
"The Olympics have been really awesome. Having two days of training really helped me," Josie said.
"I really felt like … I was progressing every run, getting better and faster.
"I was really looking forward to racing, because my favourite part is racing three people down the track. I'm pretty bummed that was cut short.
"I'll take this experience and bring it into the next Games for sure."
Belle and Josie will now be cheering on their male teammates who'll line up tomorrow in the snowboard cross from 2:15pm AEDT.
olympics.com.au
Lauren Ryan
Belle, now a triple Olympian, fought back from an opening run admittedly below her standards to secure a spot in the final and finish fourth overall.
While it wasn't the result she was aiming for, Belle had the whole of Australia along for the ride.
"I have a lot of fight in me, and the more the sport kicks me down the more I come back harder," Belle said.
"I did that (today), each lap I got better and better and better.
"But the final didn't go quite my way. I really did back myself in winning gold and I know I can beat these girls any other day.
"But sport's cutthroat and it just didn't fall into place for me."
Belle was assigned the 18th seed out of 32 competitors to begin the 1/8 finals based on her opening two runs, which by her own admission was well below her expectations.
But she delivered each time during the finals, outclassing many of the favourites to hold on until the end.
Her Aussie teammate Josie, who made her Olympic debut today as a 19-year-old, produced an opening run fast enough to finish in the top 16 and qualify straight through to the finals.
Despite not progressing past the 1/8 final, Josie has gained a lot of experience she'll carry through.
"The Olympics have been really awesome. Having two days of training really helped me," Josie said.
"I really felt like … I was progressing every run, getting better and faster.
"I was really looking forward to racing, because my favourite part is racing three people down the track. I'm pretty bummed that was cut short.
"I'll take this experience and bring it into the next Games for sure."
Belle and Josie will now be cheering on their male teammates who'll line up tomorrow in the snowboard cross from 2:15pm AEDT.
olympics.com.au
Lauren Ryan
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