Hardaway Finishes Fifth

Team Sprint athlete Hannah Hardaway finished fifth in women’s moguls with a score of 24.77. Norway’s Kari Traa won gold with a score of 25.94, and the United States’ Shannon Bahrke took the silver with 25.06.

Moguls are judged by a panel of seven judges who score turns, air and speed, with a maximum number of 30 points.

Hardaway entered the Winter Games ranked second in the World Cup mogul standings, so her fifth-place finish was a disappointment to her. Still, she was in good spirits after the race, acknowledging that she didn’t execute one of her air maneuvers as well as she had needed to in Winter Games competition.

With five junior national championships and one junior world title, Hardaway had already established a world-class reputation in 1998 at the age of 19. A knee injury put her career on hold until the 1999/2000 season, and Hardaway struggled to regain her form. But at the 2000 U.S. Nationals, she put it all together to win the U.S. mogul title.

Hardaway then went on to capture two World Cup victories and another U.S. National championship in 2001. She finished third in the 2000/2001 World Cup mogul standings and began the 2001/2002 season right where she left off, with five top-five finishes in the first six World Cup events, including four in the top three.