Canadian freestyler skier Karker earns World Cup halfpipe bronze at Calgary's Snow Rodeo

The race to win the women's freestyle ski halfpipe Crystal Globe went down to the wire on Saturday night at WinSport's Canada Olympic Park in Calgary.

With defending champion Eileen Gu not competing in Calgary due to an injury, fellow Chinese skier Li Fanghui won gold with a run of 90.50 points to finish in a tie for the season-long points title with Zoe Atkin of Great Britain.

"I knew I could win the gold medal," said Fanghui after her clutch performance under the lights on WinSport's superpipe on an extremely cold night. "I'm so happy. Thank you to Calgary. It's so cold. I'm so excited."

Atkin claimed the silver medal Saturday and a share of the Crystal Globe with Fanghui thanks to her best run of 87.75 points.

Rachel Karker of Guelph, Ont., saved her best for her third and final run on Saturday to edge out Cassie Sharpe of Comox, B.C., for the bronze medal. Karker scored 87.00 points on her final run to narrowly beat Sharpe's best score of 86.50.

WATCH l Karker edges Sharpe for halfpipe bronze medal:

Canada's Rachael Karker scores freeski halfpipe bronze in Calgary

"I was really focusing on increasing my amplitude throughout the night and I was really happy with what my third run ended up being," Karker said. "I'm so excited. I was really trying to take the pressure off myself after a bit of a rough season and this is just great. I ended up on the podium at home, which is wonderful."

Karker, who won the Crystal Globe in 2023, referred to Fanghui and Atkin tying for this year's title as crazy.

"I'm happy for both of them," she said. "It's one of the hardest ones to get because you have to be so consistent throughout the season. It was one of the ones I really wanted to get, so I'm sure both of them are super, super