Ben Lynch finished eighth in the men’s freestyle skiing halfpipe final at the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics in Livigno on Friday evening.
The Irishman posted an impressive score of 75.00 in the final round of the event. Lynch’s result marks one of the strongest Olympic performances ever by an Irish winter athlete.
American Alex Ferreira won gold in the men’s freestyle skiing half-pipe competition with a score of 93.75. The American Olympian completed his Olympic medal streak after winning silver (2018) and bronze (2022). Silver went to Henry Sildaru of Estonia with a best score of 93.00, while Brendan Mackay of Canada took bronze with a third run of 91.00.
Lynch ‘couldn’t be happier’
Reflecting on the significance of tonight’s result, Ben Lynch said:
“It’s really cool, especially because eight is my lucky number. My birthday is September 8. I had eight stitches above my eyebrow here, so eight has always been my lucky number and the fact that I just had eight, the stars are aligning.”
“It still feels surreal, but it sinks in a little bit. Yeah, it’s pretty cool because my last best finish was 16, so I have that at the Olympics and I couldn’t be happier to be here.”
Crucial third round
Lynch’s third run was his pivotal moment, putting him at the top of the scoreboard, as he explained:
“In the third run, I was really nervous at the top. I felt very prepared, but obviously the nerves were on edge. My family is there, everyone was watching, and I hadn’t done my first two runs. But yeah, I just tried really hard to focus on the race, not worry about the result, and I ended up doing as well as I could have done, and I’m really, really excited.
“I think before this I had only reached the 60s in the World Cup. It’s hard to get high scores at the world level, at the World Cup level, but yeah, this is the best score I’ve ever gotten. I also got a score of 75 in qualifying, so I’m so happy.”
The position Ben Lynch takes 8th place at the Winter Olympics appeared first on SportsNewsIreland.