By Jack Tarrant
PYEONGCHANG, South Korea (Reuters) - Cassie Sharpe dominated her rivals with the two best runs of the final as the 25-year-old Canadian soared to Olympic gold in the women's ski halfpipe on Tuesday.
Sharpe's second run score of 95.80 was more than enough to defeat France's Marie Martinod and American Brita Sigourney of the United States, who completed the podium places of an event that went pretty much to form.
All three skiers had recorded two runs of more than 90 points in qualification and they brought a similar level of consistency to a final that saw the top five qualifiers repeat their order in the medals showdown.
Signourney was the best placed of three U.S. athletes after she edged Annalisa Drew into fourth, while Sochi gold medallist Maddie Bowman could only finish 11th of the 12 finalists after falling on all three of her runs.
However, the real battle at the top of the leaderboard was between Sharpe and Martinod, with both skiers laying down two runs of more than 90 points before the Frenchwoman's challenge ended when the 33-year-old crashed on her last effort.
Despite the fall, Martinod matched her silver medal from Sochi four years ago.