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Muir finished just off the podium for the second time.
Mark Staniforth Monday 16 February 2026 21:20 GMT- Bookmark
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open image in galleryKirsty Muir endured another agonising fourth place finish in Livigno (David Davies/PA) (PA Wire)
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Kirsty Muir suffered her second fourth-place finish of the Milan and Cortina Winter Olympics as she missed out on a medal in the women’s freestyle Big Air competition at Livigno Snow Park.
Just as she had exactly one week ago in the slopestyle final at the same venue, the Aberdeen 21-year-old stood on the brink of the podium only to have her hopes dashed at the death.
In an event in which the best two cumulative scores from three attempts determine the final standings, Muir landed a 1620 to score a massive 93.0 – the third biggest of the competition – to soar into second place at the end of round two.
But a big score from Chinese superstar Eileen Gu nudged Muir down into bronze-medal position before a stunning 94.25 from Italy’s world champion Flora Tabanelli forced Muir to upgrade in order to return to the top three.
Going for broke, she crashed out, confirming gold for Megan Oldham of Canada, with Gu taking silver and Tabanelli, to the delight of the home fans, earning bronze. For Great Britain, it was a painful fifth fourth place of the Games so far.
Strong winds and blizzard conditions delayed the start of the final by over an hour, but Muir’s hopes of contesting the podium once again were improved by the news that Switzerland’s Mathilde Gremaud, the winner of the slopestyle event, had been forced to withdraw after a crash in training.
Muir, who won a silver medal in Big Air at the prestigious Aspen X Games last month, had recovered well from the raw emotion of missing out by less than point last Monday, qualifying in fourth place behind Oldham – unbeaten in this competition since the last Olympics – Gu, and Gremaud.
Gu, the world’s highest-paid sportswoman outside tennis, went into the final having become embroiled in a row with the International Ski Federation over its refusal to allow her extra time to train for the halfpipe.
Gu is the only female athlete attempting to compete in slopestyle, in which she won a silver medal last Monday, Big Air and halfpipe. She hit out at the decision and said the FIS was “punishing excellence”.
Gu ranked joint third after the first run, behind a leading 93.5 by Austria’s Tara Wolf, while Muir’s relatively-conservative 81.75 left her halfway down the 10-strong field.
Muir turned the standings on their head after her second jump, sitting just behind the all-conquering Oldham, before first Gu and then, finally, Tabanelli landed their best scores to nudge above her in the standings and leave the British star without a medal once more.