Simon Dumont made a courageous bid to qualify for the first U.S. Olympic freeski halfpipe team Saturday night but simply couldn’t overcome his latest injury.
Dumont, a 27-year-old from Bethel, tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in a practice run Friday night but still attempted to compete in Saturday’s final Olympic qualifier in Park City, Utah.
Dumont, wearing a brace, scored a 72.20 on his first run, which put him far behind the leaders. He was in obvious pain at the finish.
He decided to forego his second run, skiing down the middle of the halfpipe during a break in the action, waving to the crowd.
Dumont has been dogged by injuries for the last two years. In fact, he suffered a severely broken ankle in the spring.
When he had to pull out of Friday’s Olympic qualifier, the speculation was he reinjured the ankle.
But at the start of Saturday night’s competition, the online commentators said he had torn his left ACL but was making one final bid to qualify for the Olympic team.
Dumont missed the first of the five Olympic qualifiers with a concussion he sustained in a practice run.
He came back with a fifth and fourth in the next two qualifiers, putting him in good position to make the team.
But he couldn’t overcome that last injury.
The U.S. halfpipe team was announced late Saturday night.
COTA HAS LAST CHANCE
Jeremy Cota of Greenville has one last opportunity Sunday to earn a berth on the U.S. men’s moguls ski team that will compete in the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
Cota will compete in the final Olympic qualifier in Val St. Come, Quebec, knowing that he needs a top-three finish to have a chance at making the U.S. team for the Olympics.
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