Canada’s Halfpipe qualifiers Cassie Sharpe and Rachael Karker - everything you need to know

While home nation favourite Ailing (Eileen) Gu is aiming to win a Freeski Olympic double at Friday’s Halfpipe final, two challengers from Canada will be looking to create their own piece of history.

Rachael Karker and Cassie Sharpe are two of the world’s best freestyle skiers.

In recent years, both have showcased their Halfpipe pedigree – and a Team Canada gold medal at Beijing 2022 is certainly not out of the question.

Sharpe, a 29-year-old from Calgary, has already done it once before, having clinched a historic Halfpipe gold medal in PyeongChang four years ago.

In what is still a very young Olympic Winter Games sport, with Freeski Halfpipe only being introduced at Sochi 2014, Sharpe now has the chance to make history by becoming the first woman to win back-to-back Olympic titles in the event.

However, in order to do so, she will have to get the better of her young teammate, whose form last year turned plenty of heads.

Former ballet dancer Karker is very much coming into her own as a Freestyle Skier, earning a superb silver medal at last year’s Halfpipe World Championships in Aspen, Colorado.

She added to this by taking bronze in Superpipe at the 2021 Winter X Games, two achievements that mark her out as a clear contender to both Sharpe, as well as competition favourite, Gu.

Gu already has a gold to her name from this Olympic Winter Games, after winning the Big Air event. While she is widely tipped to double her golden haul, her Canadian rivals cannot be written off just yet.

Last March, at the World Championships, Karker’s best Halfpipe run was just over a point shy of Gu’s competition winning score of 93.00.

Having laid down a Qualifying best of 94.25, all signs point to Karker being able to take the fight to the