Hong Kong alpine skier Audrey King bowed out of her maiden Winter Olympics appearance in Beijing after she was unable to qualify for the finals in the women's slalom event held at the Yanqing National Alpine Ski Centre yesterday.

The 19-year-old ranked 77th among 88 competitors from 51 countries and regions as she went through the first of four gates in 16.63 seconds.

King slowly climbed up the ranks and came in at 60th as she passed the third gate in 51.54 seconds, 12.96 seconds behind leader Lena Duerr from Germany.

But King lost her balance during the dash to the finish line and was among 30 athletes who recorded a "did not finish." Thus, King will not proceed to the second run.

In an interview afterward, King said that despite being disappointed, she was happy to have given her best. "I was constantly regaining my balance mid-race, and I was only thinking of the word 'fight,'" King said. "I'm a little disappointed because my goal for today was finishing so that I could get a result on the board."

"However, I am super proud of the fight and I can wholeheartedly say that I gave it my very best shot. I'm walking away from these games super thankful and can't wait to cheer on my teammate in their upcoming events," she added.

King also thanked Hongkongers for being "incredibly supportive" and said she hopes she made her city proud.

King was not the only skier bested by the tough slope as one of the favorites for the event - double Olympic gold medalist Mikaela Shiffrin - suffered a shock exit, managing just a handful of gates before skiing out. Petra Vlhova from Slovakia eventually snatched gold as Austrian Katharina Lienberger and Wendy Holdener from Switzerland snatched silver and bronze respectively.

King had to endure a hectic start to her first Olympic run in Beijing after she tested positive for Covid-19 after arriving from her team's training camp in Bosnia and Herzegovina on January 30.

This caused her to miss the games' opening ceremony and over a week of training.

Hong Kong has thus far seen three of its athletes participate in the Winter Olympics. Sidney Chu will make his debut in the 500-meter speed skating event tomorrow. Adrian Yung Hau-tsuen will debut in the giant slalom and slalom events on February 13 and 16 respectively.

Audrey keeps cool as she crashes out