Freestyle skier Grace Henderson’s Olympic dream officially began on Saturday, Feb. 7.
Henderson, who attended Oyster River schools as a Madbury resident through middle school, is one of four women on Team USA competing in freestyle skiing in both the slopestyle and big air events at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics.
Henderson placed 15th out of 23 in the women’s slopestyle qualification on Saturday morning with a score of 49.78, and didn’t advance to Monday’s final. Italy’s Maria Gasslitter earned the 12th-and-final spot in the finals with a score of 54.66.
Avery Krumme was the only American to advance, placing fourth with a 64.93 score. The top three were Switzerland’s Mathilde Gremaud (79.15), China’s Eileen Gu (75.30), and Great Britian’s Kirsty Muir (64.93).
How to watch Grace Henderson, USA compete in big air event
Henderson, 24, will wait until Saturday, Feb. 14 for the big air event qualification round at 1:30 p.m. The finals in that event are scheduled for Monday, Feb. 16, at 1:30 a.m. Again, the top 12 from the qualification round advance to the finals. Qualifications will be streamed on Peacock, while the finals will be televised on NBC.
This article originally appeared on Fosters Daily Democrat. Reporting by Staff Reports.
