New Zealand snowboarders have been eliminated from the halfpipe competition at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver after they failed to make the top nine in the heats.
James Hamilton just missed the cut, finishing 10th in the first heat at Cypress Mountain, while Mitch Brown was unable to complete a clean run in the second heat and finished 18th on Thursday.
Defending champion Shaun White was in a class of his own, scoring scored 48.4 points out of a possible 50 on his second run to take the title.
The red-haired American snowboarder, known as The Flying Tomato, had already recorded the highest score of the final with his first run, but impressed the crowd in his second attempt with a new move including a double back flip while turning.
Meanwhile, New Zealand cross-country skier Kate Calder failed to qualify for the 1.4km sprint classic.
Calder finished 47th in a time of 4 minutes 3 seconds, but was 12 seconds outside the qualifying time for the top 30 to advance to the quarterfinals.
