Winter Olympics 2014: Katie Summerhayes misses out on medal as Canadian Dara Howell reigns supreme in ski slopestyle final
Summerhayes fell on her first run before finishing seventh with her second attempt while Devin Logan took silver and Kim Lamarre bronze
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Your support makes all the difference.Katie Summerhayes finished seventh in the Winter Olympics ski slopestyle final as Canada's Dara Howell secured gold in Sochi.
The Sheffield teenager had been touted for a podium spot but she could not follow in the footsteps of Jenny Jones, who secured Britain's first ever medal on snow on Sunday.
After strolling into Tuesday's final, qualifying third, Summerhayes fell after her first run in the showpiece event and struggled with her jumps at the second attempt.
"I'm gutted, I really am gutted," she said.
Howell stormed to the title with a score of 94.20, while Devin Logan took silver and Kim Lamarre earned bronze.
Summerhayes gave Britain real hope of another medal in this morning's qualifiers after two solid runs, showing accomplished work on the rail part of the course in particular to breeze to the top 12 place needed to reach the final.
But the 18-year-old fell over after failing to land her first jump, while she made several smaller errors second time around.
Her score of 70.60 - in contrast to her qualifying runs of 81.40 and 84.00 - was only good enough for seventh.
"On the first jump, I think it was really slushy," she said.
"I'm not sure what happened because one moment I was backseat and the next I was on the floor.
"The second run, I did all the run I wanted to do but I put my hands down twice on two of the landings and that's a big thing between winning and losing - it just needed to be cleaner.It's my fault."
Summerhayes admitted her fall in her first run shook her confidence.
"A little bit, yeah. I had much more pressure on my second run," she said.
"I was a bit annoyed as well because every time I've done that trick - the switch nine (a trick that involves two and a half spins with the competitor landing backward) - I've landed it."
She was made to wait for longer than expected after Canada's Yuki Tsubota suffered a nasty looking fall just before her run.
Tsubota was led off on a stretcher but Canadian Freestyle Ski Association president Peter Judge later confirmed her condition was thankfully not serious.
Summerhayes was unaffected by the delay.
"We actually had no idea," she said. "I had no idea it was Yuki either because Yuki's one of my best friends."
While Summerhayes is disappointed to miss out on a medal, she is proud of her achievement in reaching the final.
"I knew that if I put down a good run I would be in with a chance of making the podium but I'm just happy with the way I skied," she added.
"That's one of the best I've ever skied. I just have to take it as one of those things."
PA
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