BOKWANG, Korea, Republic Of -- Fans skilled at lip reading might recognize the song Canadian skier Cassie Sharpe is singing right before she drops into the halfpipe.
It's the same every time: M.O.P.'s rap classic "Ante Up."
The bravado-filled lyrics seem to be working. She scored 93.40 on her second run after a 93.00 on her first time down the halfpipe on Monday, taking the top spot in qualifying. In halfpipe, the best score from two runs counts.
"I'm rapping, I'm singing a song, just amping myself up," Sharpe said of her pre-competition ritual. "I've got a little motto 'Just do what you've already done', because I've done everything I need to do to be in that pipe, and to do tricks that I know I can do. So I'm just yelling at myself to 'Just do it. Just do it'."
Calgary's Rosalind Groenewoud qualified 11th with a score of 73.20. The top 12 competitors move on to Tuesday's finals.
France's Marie Martinod was second with 92.00 points and Brita Sigourney of the United States was third with 90.60 points.
Although she has headphones on while she's in the halfpipe, Sharpe says the music fades when she's competing.
"I definitely think of my tricks on the way down, but I play 'Ante Up' and I don't hear it until I get back to the bottom," said Sharpe, from Comox, B.C. "I'm in my head, I'm thinking. I'll hear it as I'm dropping in, as I'm singing it, and then as soon as I'm at my first hit, it's gone."
