Murray Buchan admitted that he could have hardly asked for more after landing two fine runs in the first ever freestyle ski halfpipe event to be held at the Winter Olympics in Sochi.
Buchan scored a best of 62.40 from his second run at a snowy Rosa Khutor Extreme Park to place 17th on his Olympic debut while teammate James Machon was 23rd.
That wasn’t enough for either to make the final, top 12 was needed, but there was to be no dampening Buchan’s spirits as he now plans a filming trip in Switzerland after the Games before heading to the US.
“I was really pleased to get a run down and get a score on the board so I could push on my second run,” said Buchan.
“It has been tough, the first day of practice in the pipe was really difficult, the second was brilliant and the pipe was good and the weather was good.
“And then the weather came in and it made it difficult again for all the riders to get a good session under their belt.
“The judges were looking for a lot of grabs and amplitude but it is difficult when the conditions are so tough and I think that is what cost me – the grabs – but that is just the way it goes sometimes.”
Meanwhile, Machon has beaten a serious knee injury to make his Games debut and he scored a best of 52.20 to place 23rd – something he’s determined to improve upon in Pyeongchang in 2018.
“I have got a few more competitions lined up this season so hopefully I can build on this and hopefully everything goes well,” he said. “I definitely want to go to the next Winter Olympics and hopefully aim for a medal.”
© Sportsbeat 2014