Laurie Blouin ended the Pyeongchang Olympics as she began them — in pain.
Blouin missed the landing on each of her first two jumps in the inaugural women's big air final Thursday and chose not to make her third jump, settling instead for a 12th-place finish with 39.25 points.
The 21-year-old from Stoneham, Que., said she had been nursing a bruise on her left buttock since Wednesday and aggravated it when she fell on her first jump.
"There, on my first jump, to fall back on it, it was just the cherry on the sundae," said Blouin. "I tried not to shed a tear, but it was just too bad."
Blouin stood up, grimacing and staggering, but returned to the top of the ramp for her second jump. After again missing her landing, Blouin decided not to try a third time.
Spencer O'Brien of Courtenay, B.C., — the only other Canadian to advance to the big air final — finished ninth with a combined 113.25 points over her three runs.
O'Brien said she was having trouble with her jumps during her practice runs and that continued into the final.
"I ended up going with a lot safer of runs than I would have liked to but that's how the day panned out for me," O'Brien said. "Pretty disappointed I couldn't put on my best but that's kind of what I had today and that's how it goes."
It was the second competition for both Blouin and O'Brien at the Pyeongchang Games. Blouin won silver in the women's slopestyle competition last week while O'Brien finished a disappointing 22nd, failing to reach the final round.
Blouin took a hard fall in a training run two days before the slopestyle competition and was taken to hospital as a precaution. She won her silver while sporting a shiner under her left eye and a gash on her cheek.
"I still come back with a medal," Blouin said. "It consoles me, although I honestly believed in my chances of climbing the podium (in big air)... maybe not in first or second place, but the bronze medal was obviously accessible."
Austria's Anna Gasser won gold, scoring 96 on her final run for a combined 185 points. American Jamie Anderson took silver with 177.25 points and Zoi Sadowski Synnott of New Zealand earned bronze.
"As athletes we always want to do our best, so if you don't do your best you don't feel that good about it," O'Brien said. "But I'm just really proud of the women here today. The level is just incredible. To just be a part of this final is really amazing."
In big air, each competitor snowboards down a steep hill and launches off a ramp before performing one trick in the air that is judged based on execution and difficulty.
The men's final, which includes three Canadians, is scheduled for Saturday.
Mark McMorris of Regina and Max Parrot of Bromont, Que., could earn their second medals of these Games. Parrot took silver in slopestyle last week while McMorris finished right behind him for bronze. Sebastien Toutant of L'Assomption, Que., is also in the men's final.
— With files Alexandre Geoffrion-McInnis
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