Figure skater Tara Prasad misses out on 2022 Winter Olympics qualification
Indian figure skater Tara Prasad finished at the 30th spot in the women’s singles competition of the 2021 Nebelhorn Trophy, which was incidentally also a qualifying event for the 2022 Winter Olympics. She was well short of the six possible quotas available for the mega event, in Beijing, next year.
The Indian was already placed at the 34th spot after the short program event on Thursday and needed a turnaround in the free skating segment to stand a chance to grab any one of the available six quotas for the 2022 Winter Olympics.
With La Bayadere playing in the background, Evergreen Symphony’s rendition of the age-old classic, Tara Prasad self-choreography went well with the music. She began with a double axel and a triple salchow (a jump where the skater starts with the inside edge of one foot and lands on the back outside edge of the opposite foot).
In spite of the attempt, she garnered only 84.76 points in the free skating section, taking her overall score to 122.27, which was well short of the qualifying mark. She finished 30th in the overall table.
Alysia Liu of USA claimed the top spot, with total score of 207.40 while Poland’s Ekaterina Kurakova finished second, with a count of 193.58. Australia’s Kailani Craine booked the final quota for the Games with a reading of 165.35.
“My goal is to make it to the Winter Olympics and even though it might not happen this time, I do want to skate for another four years. So, the next Olympics is actually my primary goal,” she said to the Olympics.com, a few days ago.