Snowboarder Aimee Fuller 'gutted' by crash in Winter Olympics slopestyle final

Snowboarder Aimee Fuller told ITV News she was "gutted" after gusty weather caused her to crash off her final jump in the women's snowboard slopestyle at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.

Fuller finished 17th in the event after the qualification runs had been cancelled on Sunday due to the severe weather, putting all 26 competitors straight through to the final.

But the weather problems prevailed and Fuller considered herself fortunate to escape injury after crashing off her final jump on the course at the Phoenix Snow Park.

She said: "Conditions today were definitely a challenge. It was for sure not what I dreamed of for an Olympic final, but it is what it is and I'm lucky to be in one piece right now."

The conditions forced the 26-year-old to take evasive action during the first of her two runs, which scored 34.62, before a more ambitious second routine earned 41.43 despite her crash off the last jump.

She told ITV News that she was "absolutely gutted" to crash out of the jump.

"On my first run I pulled out of the second jump because I knew I didn't have the speed, it was like literally riding into this like crazy vortex of a wind tunnel", Fuller said.

"Obviously safety is the primary concern so I pulled out and then on my second run you know it's the final and I gave it absolutely everything I had and stayed low, stayed small, made it over the second jump and riding into the third one, it felt ok.

"I was like 'yeah, yeah I've got this I'm there, I'm so close' and then literally as I came around it felt like, you know, I had a sail on my snowboard, it just whipped from under me and there was just not a chance I was going to land."

Fuller, who has spent four years training for the Winter Olympics, said it is devastating that a factor like the weather "can literally sweep you off your feet".

But undeterred, the athlete said she is now concentrating on her next goal, the freestyle snowboarding event, Big Air.

"Big Air always has been my main goal going into this Olympics it's something I really enjoy you know you've got one shot to do your biggest and best trick and I really hope I can put down what I've been working on in the Big Air next week," she said.