Freestyle skier Ashley Caldwell of Ashburn, Virginia, loves the risk because she loves the reward, but at the Pyeongchang Olympics, there was no prize for her daring.
The foremost envelope pusher in the dangerous sport of aerials failed to land either of her triple-flipping jumps in qualifying Thursday.
She didn't crack the top 12 and will watch the final from the sidelines.
It's a loss for her, but also for the sport, where Caldwell is the only jumper in the field who consistently tries triples, whether in qualifying or the final.
Last year, Caldwell won the World Championships by becoming the first woman to cleanly land a triple-flipping, quadruple-twisting jump in competition.
A three-time Olympian, she's only 24 — young enough to get another chance on the sport's biggest stage.
