PYEONGCHANG, South Korea (Reuters) - Elizabeth Swaney finished 24th and last in qualification for the women’s ski halfpipe final on Monday, but the 33-year-old will leave Pyeongchang having achieved exactly what she wanted — to compete at an Olympic Games. 
 
 Freestyle Skiing - Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics - Women's Ski Halfpipe Qualifications - Phoenix Snow Park - Pyeongchang, South Korea - February 19, 2018 - Elizabeth Marian Swaney from Hungary reacts. REUTERS/Mike Blake 
 
 Swaney, born and raised in the United States but representing Hungary, finished bottom of the standings after laying down two basic runs that left her more than 40 points behind the 12th-placed qualifier for the final. 
 
 Although she completed both runs without falling, Swaney did not attempt a trick any more advanced than an alley-oop — when a skier rotates 180 degrees or more in the uphill direction — on her way to scores of 30.00 and 31.40. 
 
 Swaney’s best score still left her 13.60 points behind 23rd-placed Dane Laila Friis-Salling, who slipped on both runs. 
 
 Despite appearing to only be interested in completing her runs safely while not attempting to score points or qualify for the final, Swaney still managed to sound downbeat about her performance. 
 
 “I didn’t qualify for the finals, so I’m really disappointed with that. But I worked really for several years to achieve this,” Swaney replied when asked about her emotions after competing at an Olympics. 
 
 “I have been focusing on my Olympic experience but also on the halfpipe here and trying to go higher each time and getting more spins in.” 
 
 Swaney says she qualified to represent Hungary through her maternal grandparents after previously competing for Venezuela in other winter sports before switching her allegiance again in 2016 to prepare for Pyeongchang. 
 
 Freestyle Skiing - Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics - Women's Ski Halfpipe Qualifications - Phoenix Snow Park - Pyeongchang, South Korea - February 19, 2018 - Elizabeth Marian Swaney from Hungary reacts. REUTERS/Mike Blake 
 
 A Harvard graduate who once ran against Arnold Schwarzenegger in the race to be California governor, Swaney only started skiing at 25 and has been driven ever since in her quest to compete at an Olympics. 
 
 After raising funds through online donation websites to help fuel her Olympic ambitions, Swaney managed to qualify for Pyeongchang due to the sheer volume of competitions she attended. 
 
 Needing to consistently finish in the top 30 at World Cup events to make it to South Korea, Swaney has persisted with easy runs, sometimes not even attempting tricks, to make sure she does not fall and always records a score. 
 
 SWANEY SUPPORT 
 
 Her best finish came at Secret Garden in China when she finished 13th out of 15 athletes while a majority of her Olympic rivals were competing in the U.S. Grand Prix at Copper Mountain or on the Dew Tour. 
 
 However, Swaney still hopes to inspire others who might be intimidated by the prospect of skiing up and down the steep walls of the halfpipe. 
 
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 “It is an honor to compete at the Olympics and I am really excited to compete among other amazing women from across the world,” Swaney said. 
 
 “I want to show others that freestyle skiing is possible and it is never too late to get into this sport, and to help others to dream and to progress the sport in Hungary. 
 
 “I hope this can be a platform to inspire others.” 
 
 If the watching fans and media were left bemused by Swaney’s runs, her competitors were more supportive of her presence at the Olympics. 
 
 “If you are going to put in the time and effort to be here, then you deserve to be here as much as I do,” said Canada’s Cassie Sharpe, who qualified in first place with the two highest-scoring runs. 
 
 France’s Marie Martinod, who qualified in second, said she had no ill-feelings towards Swaney for her participation. 
 
 “I am a super open-minded person,” she said. “This is why the Olympics are so special.” 
 
 Swaney’s performances may have disgruntled some but she was unconcerned by any negativity towards her intentions. 
 
 “(People doubting me) actually motivates me to improve more,” she added. “I worked really hard to come here and there are only 24 women in the world that could be in this final. So I use this as motivation.” 

 Elizabeth Swaney made it to the Olympics and, for one night, captivated — and also confused — a worldwide audience. 
 
 You won't be seeing her in today's halfpipe final, and you certainly won't be seeing her at X Games next year. 
 
 But the fact remains, Elizabeth Swaney made it to the Olympics and, for one night, captivated — and also confused — a worldwide audience. 
 
 First, a little explanation about Olympic qualifying: This year, there were 24 quota spots available for the PyeongChang Winter Olympics in women's ski halfpipe. But those spots don't automatically go to the best 24 skiers in the world. The maximum number of skiers that each nation can send to the Olympics for women's halfpipe is four, so a country like the U.S. — which had six skiers ranked inside the top 20 of the Olympic qualification standings — could only send their top four skiers, even though they had more than four athletes who earned quota spots. 
 
 So with countries like the U.S. having to forego their extra quota spots, some countries not using all their quota spots, and other athletes pulling out due to injury, the invite list made it all the way down to athlete No. 34 in the rankings: Elizabeth Swaney of Hungary. 
 
 Swaney, a 33-year-old from California, is technically American. But she's able to compete for Hungary because her grandparents are from there. (She originally represented Venezuela when she first started entering World Cup events in 2013, but she began competing for Hungary in 2015.) 
 
 The International Ski Federation (FIS), which governs the sport, has minimum requirements for athletes to be eligible for the Olympics. They include finishing in the top 30 at a World Cup event and scoring a minimum number of FIS points. 
 
 Swaney met those requirements. The field for women's halfpipe is not very deep, so many World Cup events had fewer than 30 athletes competing. So as long as she showed up and dropped in for a run, Swaney was guaranteed a top-30 finish and at least a few FIS points. 
 
 And that's exactly what Swaney did. She was able to use very basic runs to get herself into position to qualify for the Olympics. She wouldn't necessarily attempt any tricks, but she wouldn't crash either. 
 
 "She would compete in [World Cup events] consistently over the last couple years and sometimes girls would crash so she would not end up dead last," FIS freeski judge Steele Spence explained to the Denver Post. 
 
 Which brings us to Swaney's performance in PyeongChang: 
 
 She didn't clear the lip of the halfpipe. She didn't grab her tricks. She didn't spin anything beyond a 180. But she didn't fall. 
 
 Her first run "featured" five straight airs, an alley-oop 180 and then another straight air — the sort of run that you might see from a weekend warrior at your local ski resort's halfpipe. It scored a 30.0 and placed her 22nd out of 24 skiers. 
 
 Swaney cleaned things up enough on her second run to bump her score up to a 31.4, but by then she was firmly in last place. 
 
 "I didn’t qualify for the finals, so I‘m really disappointed with that," Swaney said afterward, according to Reuters. "But I worked really hard for several years to achieve this." 
 
 Swaney — whose other notable exploits have included a run for governor of California as a 19-year-old and an attempt to become an Olympic skeleton athlete for Venezuela — insists her motivations are pure and says that she hopes her trip to the Olympics can be an inspiration. 
 
 "I want to inspire others in Hungary and the world to become involved in freestyle skiing," she said, according to the Denver Post. "Maybe perhaps I’m the bridge to those who want to get started in the life of freestyle skiing and I want to show people that, yeah, it’s possible to get involved in freestyle skiing through a variety of backgrounds." 
 
 As for what the other athletes thought of her performance, it's hard to say. The Denver Post noted that no athletes were willing to go on the record for their story about Swaney, but Cassie Sharpe — the gold medal favorite in women's halfpipe — told other media outlets that she didn't have a problem with it. 
 
 "If you are going to put in the time and effort to be here," she said, according to Reuters, "then you deserve to be here as much as I do.” 

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 For any weekend warriors wondering if they could ever compete in an Olympic event, Team Hungary skier Elizabeth Swaney is here to serve as inspiration. 
 
 The U.S.-born Swaney, 33, turned in an oddly captivating qualifying run on Monday in which she leisurely skied the Pyeongchang halfpipe without doing a single trick. 
 
 How freeskier Elizabeth Swaney made it to the #WinterOlympics with this very simple halfpipe run: https://t.co/enfDyoQjGC pic.twitter.com/kHTAV7XND4 — NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) February 20, 2018 
 
 Looking like a fan plucked from the crowd, Swaney attempted none of the aerial maneuvers we've seen from her competitors, and barely cleared the lip of the halfpipe with each turn. 
 
 Unsurprisingly, she did not qualify for the finals. 
 
 So how did Swaney make it all the way to the Olympics with such limited skills? 
 
 There are 24 spots in the field, and each nation can only send its top four skiers to the women's halfpipe. Swaney, who is ranked No. 34 in the world, was able to make it due to injuries and some countries not using all their spots, according to NBC Olympics. 
 
 Swaney, who only began freestyle skiing in 2013, is able to compete for Hungary because her grandparents are from there. 
 
 The native Californian met International Ski Federation requirements by posting clean, though unspectacular, runs at Olympic qualifying events. 

 BONGPYEONG, South Korea — A popular internet meme pines for average people in Olympic contests to provide a point of reference. 
 
 This week’s Olympic women’s pipe contest offers that plebian context with Elizabeth Swaney. 
 
 The 33-year-old American with a graduate degree from Harvard University is Hungary’s first Olympic freestyle skier after qualifying through both the country’s quota system and 13 career World Cup halfpipe contests. In those contests, she has finished last or within a couple spots of last place. 
 
 But she’s no Eddie the Eagle, having fun playing the derring-do Olympian. 
 
 Swaney is all in. Even without a trick to throw in the pipe. 
 
 “I’m just trying to do the best for myself and represent Hungary as best as I can,” she said just before her final practice on Sunday, the day before women’s qualification in the Olympic halfpipe. “I really hope to inspire others in Hungary to take up freestyle skiing and I hope that contributes to a greater number of people out there freestyle skiing.” 
 
 Swaney, who said her grandparents came from Hungary, earned her Olympic berth more from attending World Cup events than actually competing. Women’s pipe skiing World Cups rarely see more than 30 competitors, so it’s not hard to meet the Olympic requirement for a top-30 finish. At last December’s World Cup in China, when most of the world’s top skiers were competing in the Grand Prix at Copper Mountain and Dew Tour at Breckenridge, Swaney finished 13 out of 15 competitors, her best career finish. 
 
 “The field is not that deep in the women’s pipe and she went to every World Cup, where there were only 24, 25, or 28 women,” said longtime FIS ski halfpipe and slopestyle judge Steele Spence. “She would compete in them consistently over the last couple years and sometimes girls would crash so she would not end up dead last. There are going to be changes to World Cup quotas and qualifying to be eligible for the Olympics. Those things are in the works so technically you need to qualify up through the system.” 
 
 Philippe Belanger, the head judge at freeskiing competitions at the PyeongChang Olympics, said if Swaney had crashed at three or four World Cups, she would not have earned enough points to meet the Olympic qualification and country quota requirements. But Swaney consistent and rarely tumbles. Belanger said the FIS is considering proposals to shrink the number of open positions available for Olympic competitors in the halfpipe. That would require Olympians to harvest more than the minimum points awarded just for showing up and not falling at World Cup contests. 
 
 “By that we will make the points a bit higher,” Belanger said. “So in that case you are going to need a better placement in each World Cup, to not just make it to the Games but to stay on the World Cup circuit.” 
 
 Swaney has competed in World Cup halfpipe contests in California, Colorado, Utah, China, Italy, France, South Korea, Canada and New Zealand since 2013, initially competing for Venezuela and then switching to Hungary in 2016. She’s self-funded her efforts, though online fundraisers have helped a little. 
 
 She graduated from the University of California at Berkeley. She ran for governor as an undergrad and lost to Arnold Schwarzenegger. She has a master’s degree in design studies with a concentration in real estate from Harvard. Now she recruits software engineers in the Bay Area. 
 
 She’s trained with Park City Ski & Snowboard since 2013. 
 
 “Her persistence is probably her biggest strength, so she’s always there and she’s gone to all the World Cups and she’s put in the time and the miles. She has made some significant improvements on the water ramp, but wasn’t necessarily able to take those tricks to snow,” said Chris Haslock, the club’s free ski and snowboard program director who was a 1988 Olympic aerials athlete. 
 
 Through a shuffling in country quotas — where some countries didn’t use all their spots and other country’s bowed out due to athlete injuries — Hungary and Swaney made the cut. 
 
 “She’s an interesting study,” Haslock said. “She’s got herself in shape. She’s really worked out and she’s more fit. She’s been tenacious. On the risk side of things, we’d like to see her take more risks. We didn’t get to do some of the things we wanted.” 
 
 While she has developed some spins off Park City’s water ramps, Swaney doesn’t have many tricks or jumps in the 22-foot halfpipe. People watching Olympic-level halfpipe skiing might struggle to grasp the complexity of trickery and it’s easy for even good skiers to be intimidated by the thought of spinning through several backflips high above the deck. Swaney’s runs, which involve no tricks, are not intimidating. She makes the sport look approachable. 
 
 How freeskier Elizabeth Swaney made it to the #WinterOlympics with this very simple halfpipe run: https://t.co/enfDyoQjGC pic.twitter.com/kHTAV7XND4 — NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) February 20, 2018 
 
 Her fellow competitors have mixed feelings about Swaney’s presence in the Olympics. While no athlete wanted to speak on record, some want the brightest of international stages to be a showcase of the very best. Some said an amateur in the mix might provide perspective. She’s hardly a new skier on the scene. Every halfpipe skier knows Swaney from the World Cup circuit. Swaney says she’s not comparing herself to her high-flying comrades, but she’s inspired by them. She wants to be a motivator too, just like her fellow Olympians. 
 
 “I want to inspire others in Hungary and the world to become involved in freestyle skiing,” she said. “Maybe perhaps I’m the bridge to those who want to get started in the life of freestyle skiing and I want to show people that, yeah, it’s possible to get involved in freestyle skiing through a variety of backgrounds.”
– On the surface, there's nothing at all ordinary or subpar about a 33-year-old Berkeley and Harvard grad who's competing with the best of the best at the Olympics. Yet Elizabeth Swaney has caused a hubbub in Pyeongchang, after turning in what Digg labels a "hilariously mediocre" ski run on the halfpipe. Today notes the US-born Swaney, who's competing for Hungary, "leisurely skied" the route on Monday in an "oddly captivating qualifying run"—notable because she offered up exactly zero aerial maneuvers, jumps, or other tricks like her competitors. NBC News and the Denver Post explain that Swaney was able to qualify for the Olympics due to a complicated system that involves country quotas, injuries, and the fact that turning in a top-30 performance at World Cup events—which sets one on the path to the Olympics—apparently isn't that hard to do. Swaney went to a bunch of those competitions and simply managed to "not end up dead last," as one longtime judge tells the Post. The key to that: She never fell because of her easy courses. Thus, she qualified for the Olympics in what Deadspin calls "something between a scam and a tale of perseverance." However, she didn't see success in Monday's run: She actually did come in dead last, finishing 24th, and won't be moving on. She tells Reuters she's "really disappointed" but has no regrets about her experience. "I want to show others that freestyle skiing is possible and it is never too late to get into this sport," she says. Today notes Swaney only started freestyle skiing in 2013. Check out Digg to see video of the qualifying run. (This US skier's boyfriend just got booted from the Olympics.)