Source: Radio New Zealand
New Zealand’s Finley Melville Ives is evacuated by a medical team in the freestyle skiing men’s freeski halfpipe qualification run 2 during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games. KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP
- Ben Harrington has qualified for the men’s freeski halfpipe final
- Fin Melville Ives is in a stable condition after a fall left him unconscious and saw him stretchered off the snow
- The finals are set down for 7.30am Saturday 21 February (NZ time)
Ben Harrington has qualified for the men’s freeski halfpipe final after a tense finish to the second run at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy.
A tough competition saw three out of the four New Zealand athletes lose a ski in at least one of their two runs. Each competitor is ranked by their best run, with only the top 12 of 25 progressing to the final.
Harrington led the Kiwi contingent after a clean first run saw him sitting at 9th. The 24-year-old dropped to 12th place during the second run, making for a nail-biting wait while all the other athletes finished competing.
Making it to the finals was “an insane feeling”, he said.
“My biggest goal was just to come out and land some runs. I had knee surgery just over a year ago, so it was a mission to get back here but we did it.”
Speaking into the cameras on the slopes, Harrington dedicated his second run to teammate Fin Melville Ives, who had his own final hopes dashed after a fall saw him stretchered off the snow.
“Hey Finski, this one’s for you, brother. Love you, let’s go skiing,” Harrington said.
New Zealand’s Ben Harrington reacts after competing in the freestyle skiing men’s freeski halfpipe qualification during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games, in Livigno, Italy. KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP
Melville Ives was the first competitor to drop into the halfpipe but lost a ski in both runs, putting him at 24th. He was assessed by medics following the second, more serious fall and stretchered off the snow.
Following the event, the New Zealand Olympic Team provided an update on his condition on social media, saying he was “stable and positive”.
Head coach Tom Willmott said “he took a big hit”, revealing the 19-year-old had been knocked unconscious.
“He’s in great care, our team doctor’s with him, his mum’s with him, and he’s doing okay. He was knocked out, but he’s conscious right now, he’s talking and he’s doing okay. He’s getting full checks, scans, x-rays, all the rest of it, just to fully rule anything out,” Willmott said.
“We had qualifying postponed due to the snow yesterday [Friday NZT] so today was the day, it was big Friday. He was using qualies as a warm up to the main event tonight [the finals, Saturday morning NZT] and he was all in, going real big.
“Fine margins, he was pushing his limits. He’s going to be devastated, he’s going to be gutted, you know. But he will pick himself up and he’ll come back from this because he’s a bit of a warrior.”
Finley Melville Ives lies on the snow after crashing in the freestyle skiing men’s freeski halfpipe qualification run 2. KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP
Fellow Kiwis Gustav Legnavsky and Luke Harrold also failed to qualify, ranking 14th and 15th respectively.
Harrold’s first run saw him in contention for the finals after he placed 11th, but run two saw the 17-year-old lose a ski.
“It was a tough day out there,” he said. “Training went well but, unfortunately, I couldn’t put down the run I wanted to in the two runs. I just want to say thanks to everyone who supported me through my whole journey, it’s been pretty incredible. I couldn’t put it down today for you guys but I know I will eventually.”
Legnavsky, 20, also lost a ski on his first run, and a clean second run was not enough to lift him into the top 12.
“I’m pretty bummed … I have more, I know I have more.”
The event involves competitors performing a series of tricks while skiing down a semi-cylindrical slope.
The final was set down for 7.30am Saturday, 21 February (NZT).
Kiwi Nico Porteous won gold in the event at the last Winter Olympics in Beijing in 2022.
New Zealand has so far secured three medals in this year’s games.
On Thursday, Zoi Sadowski-Synnott became the world’s most decorated Olympic snowboarder with her silver-medal run in the women’s snowboard slopestyle event.
Luca Harrington brought home bronze at the men’s freestyle skiing slopestyle last week, after Sadowski-Synnott also claimed New Zealand’s first medal of the games, taking silver in the big air event.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
