By
Simon Griver And Danny Caro
America’s Arielle Gold cut a dejected figure after her medal hopes were ended by injury before even competing in Sochi.
The 17-year-old arrived in Russia confident of a podium finish, but she was left teary-eyed after crashing in her final warm-up before the Snowboard halfpipe event and ruled out of the competition after falling heavily on her arm.
There was also disappointment for Gold’s brother, Taylor, who bowed out of the Men’s event in the semi-finals. Performing his signature double-cork trick, the 21-year-old slipped out of contention after a fall.
Israel’s Andrea Davidovich and Evgeni Krasnopolski reached the final of the free skating pairs competition.
Krasnopolski said: "It’s a fantastic feeling. We were very tense and really nervous up to the last moment.
"In technical terms we could have been better, but the bottom line is that we reached the final and that was our main aim."
Vladislav Bykanov missed out on a place in the semi-finals of the 1,500m short-track speed skating competition after finishing fourth in his heat.
Canada’s Anna Segal fell agonisingly short of a medal in the Women’s Ski-slope competition.
Battling a knee injury and cold, Segal, 27 was hanging on to third with only one rival left who could knock her off the podium, but Canada’s Kim Lamarre delivered a bronze-medal winning run.
Segal said: "I knew as soon as she finished it wasn’t enough."
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