2026 Winter Olympics: Kirsty Muir takes fourth place in outdoor freestyle skating

Freestyle skier Kirsty Muir once again came heartbreakingly close to a Winter Olympic medal for Team Great Britain with her second fourth-place finish at the Games.

Competing in the big air, Muir scored a combined score of 174.75 points from her two best rounds, 3.5 points ahead of Italian bronze medalist Flora Tapanelli.

This comes exactly a week after she lost out on the downhill bronze by just 0.41 points.

Canadian Megan Oldham won gold with defending champion Elaine Gu of China – competing in a major air competition for the first time since winning the Olympic title four years ago – settling for silver this time.

The final was postponed more than an hour after a severe snowstorm hit the Livigno Snow Park, while Mathilde Grimaud, the favorite for a medal, was one of two Swiss skiers to withdraw at the last minute due to injury.

This seemed to open the way for Muir, who qualified for the final in fourth place.

But in a stunning first round, four skaters posted scores of 90.00 or more, with Muir finishing seventh and knowing she needed to advance.

She did just that, scoring 93.00, the highest score of the second round and one that catapulted her up the rankings to silver medal position.

At that point, Gu, already a downhill silver medalist at these Games, was far from the pace after struggling on her second attempt, but she made up her final jump to push Muir into third place.

The Chinese skater celebrated as if her medal had been confirmed at that stage, although many skaters were waiting to push her off the podium.

As it proved, they were unable to do so, although Tapanelli’s final jump of 94.25 points – the biggest score of the night – came just 0.75 points off the silver medal position.

This increased the pressure on Muir’s third and final jump. She took her time at the top of the large airframe, talking about her options with her coach, but ultimately fell short of her effort, leaving her lost in thoughts of what could have happened when she sat on the snow.

More to follow.