Russ Henshaw crashed in the final run of the men’s ski slopestyle, attempting a triple cork that could have kept alive his medal hopes.

Henshaw needed to get the triple in the final run to remain in contention.

Ultimately he finished ninth with a top score of 80.40 from his two runs.

The USA won all three medal positions of the final, with Joss Christensen (95.80), Gus Kenworthy (93.60) and Nick Goepper (92.40) making up the trio.

“I had a crack, got close, whatever,” Henshaw said later.

Australia looks ahead

Australia’s medal hopes now rest with defending aerial skiing champion Lydia Lassila, who will jump for gold in the early hours of Saturday morning (AEDT).

Lassila claimed a little bit of history on Tuesday when she became the first woman to complete a quad-twisting triple somersault – but the history she is really chasing will be to successfully defend her gold from Vancouver.

The 32-year-old from Melbourne is on the fourth line of betting for the event, and her stiffest competition is tipped to come from a strong Chinese contingent made up of the ‘Snow Princess’ Li Nina, Mengtao Xu and Xin Zhang.

After claiming Australia’s first medal of the Games on Thursday morning with silver in the snowboard cross, Torah Bright turns her attention to the snowboard cross on Sunday evening.

Bright is Australia’s most decorated snowboarder, but she is an outsider for the racing event.

American Lindsey Jacobellis and Canada’s Dominique Maltais are joint favourites for the event, while Czech Eva Samkova and Canada’s Maelle Ricker are also among the fancies.

But don’t discount Bright, whose competitive drive can never be discounted.

Undoubtedly Australia’s best chance for another medal comes in the form of the wonderfully nicknamed and remarkably handsome Alex ‘Chumpy’ Pullin, who is favourite for the men’s snowboard cross on Monday night.

Chumpy, the Australian flagbearer, faces stern tests from American Nate Holland while Austrian Markus Schairer is also one to watch.

Additional reporting: Greig Johnston