U.S. ski jumper Annika Belshaw was disqualified at the Winter Olympics Sunday for competing on skis a centimeter too long ― and the violation was discovered after she had already qualified for the final, People reported.
Belshaw earned a first-round score of 98.5 to qualify in 29th place for the final but soon after got cut from the competition in the Olympic debut of the big hill event for women.
According to NBC, Belshaw did take a final attempt for a total score of 190.9 but it didn’t count. The top three finishers, led by gold medal winner Anna Odine Stroem of Norway (284.8), had considerably higher scores.
The official scoresheet read that Belshaw’s ouster was due to “too long ski (by +1cm)” ― a devastating development for a competitor who had begun the day with such hope.
“Tonight we go for the big one,” she had written earlier on Instagram. “Super special to be able to compete in the first Olympic big hill event for the women. Feeling so much gratitude and jumping for this little girl tonight.”
