Controversy has marred the Winter Olympics men’s aerial final after defending silver medallist David Morris suffered a shock first round exit, despite landing his jump.
The 33-year-old Australian suffered a shaky landing and missed progressing to the next round by one spot after judges gave him a score of 111.95 for the jump.
Arch rival Jia Zongyang from China fared better with a score of 118.5, despite taking a dramatic tumble on the final stages of his landing.
Australian women’s aerial gold medallist Lydia Lassila, who was commentating for Channel 7, described the scoring as ‘ludicrous’.
Aerial skier Jia Zongyang from China fared better than Australian David Morris with a score of 118.5, despite taking a tumble on the final stages of his landing
David Morris managed to stay on his feet on his first jump but the shaky landing didn’t impress the judges, who gave him received a score of 111.95, which saw him miss progressing the next round by one spot
Social media has gone into meltdown with claims Australian David Morris was ripped off in men’s aerial final after Jia Zongyang fell in his first wound jump
‘The rules are you’ve got to ski out in a controlled position and if you do catch an edge down the bottom of the landing then they will reward you,’ Lassila said on Channel 7.
‘But he was not in control on the landing and he fell over. So 118 for that, I’m in disbelief. It’s really, really unfortunate that Dave’s out of the next round. It’s a judged sport and we can’t control what they do but they’ve got to seriously review what they have decided on tonight.’
Across Australia, many others who stayed up late on Sunday night to watch the dramatic final were just as baffled as social media went into meltdown with claims Morris was ripped off
‘If only we had jurisdiction over #PyeongChang2018 because David Morris was just robbed,’ Queensland Police tweeted.
Nicknamed Jay Z, Jia Zongyang went on to claim a silver medal after narrowly scraping into the second round of the mens aerial final
‘That’s tough luck for me, that’s how these sports go,’ David Morris said afterwards
An upbeat but a ‘little disappointed’ Morris showcased his humility in a post-jump interview, saying he had no complaints about the judging.
‘I think a couple of us are confused about that,’ Morris said.
‘I can’t argue it. That’s tough luck for me, that’s how these sports go.’
‘If we don’t like judged sports I’ll take up running or something where it’s timed and you just can’t argue.’
Morris was saving a five-twist, triple-flip jump for later in the final in the hope of being on the podium again.
‘It’s a bit disappointing to not be able to do (his five-twist move) but 10th in the Olympics is fantastic,’ he said.
‘This is a fantastic competition, everyone’s putting down huge jumps. It’s nothing to be disappointed about. People have come to watch something amazing and that’s what they’re getting.’
Morris’s hasn’t ruled out retirement but said he will take time off after it was revealed earlier on Sunday that his mother Marg was recently diagnosed with cancer.
One of the hot favourites for the final, alongside Morris, Zongyang went on to win the silver medal to add to the bronze he won in Sochi four years ago.