One-eighth of a second.
That’s all that separated Meryeta O’Dine from a berth in the semifinals Sunday at the World Cup snowboardcross event at Big White near Kelowna.
With her family and friends from Prince George in the crowd at the base of the hill holding up “Go Eta” signs, the 22-year-old held on to the second-place spot she needed in her quarterfinal heat until the last jump before the finish, when Sina Siegenthaler caught her and made a late surge to take over the lead from her Italian teammate Sofia Belingheri. O’Dine finished a split-second behind Belingheri in third place.
It was a bitter end for O’Dine, racing a World Cup event for the first time on Canadian soil. She placed 10th both days. The individual race Sunday replaced a scheduled team event which was changed due to cancellation of a World Cup stop in Feldberg, Germany due to a lack of snow.
Belle Brockhoff of Australia won Sunday’s race and Italian Michela Moioli was the winner on Saturday.
Fog and poor visibility made for difficult race conditions both days.
Italians swept the men’s races with Lorenzo Sommariva the winner on Sunday, after Omar Visintin of Italy edged Eliot Grondin of Sainte-Marie, Que., for gold on Saturday. After winning silver, Grondin was ninth on Sunday. Kevin Hill of Vernon was eighth on Saturday.
Evan Bichon of Prince George placed 38th Saturday and 44th on Sunday, while Colby Graham of Prince George was 47th Saturday and 49th on Sunday.
The Canadian team will remain at Big White for NorAm races Thursday and Friday.
