Kaitlyn Farrington of the United States won gold in her first Olympics, taking the women's halfpipe at Sochi Olympics with 91.75 points on Wednesday night.

The 23-year-old posted the highest score on her second run and had to wait as three gold medallists took their runs after. But none could beat Farrington.

Defending champion Torah Bright scored 91.5 afterward to move into second place. On the last run of the night, 2002 gold medallist Kelly Clark of the United States scored 90.75 to take bronze.

"Watching the three gold medallists come down after me was a crazy feeling," said Farrington. "I was happy the other medallists all landed their runs because that's what I wanted to do but I did not expect to come out on top.

"I'm in no-mans land. They are gold medallists and I can't believe I'm one now too. I couldn't be more happy. I have no idea how I did it. I had a blast out there. Both my parents are here so I'm glad I could share this moment with them," added Farrington.

After the first run in the final, 2006 Olympic champion Hannah Teter, another American, had a strong show to rank first with 90.50. Farrington marked 85.75 in second. Bright and Clark threw down some brilliant jumps, but both fell midway.

Farrington improved on her second run to score 91.75 to cruise into the first place. Teter fell on her second, but the first score was good enough to keep her in the top three with only three riders to go.

"I got the nerves out during the qualifiers. The semifinals helped because it gave me extra practice and time to figure out the pipe," said Farrington. "I never expected the gold. I'm so stoked that I landed my runs. It was such a hard contest. All the girls rode so good."

Bright's final run landed her a score of 91.50 to land in second place, while Clark, who entered the event as a favourite for gold, put down the only 1080 of the contest but a tiny error in another jump caused her from another Olympic gold medal.

"I had a very difficult practice. I crashed on every run. It took everything I had to land that run (in the final)," said Clark.

Three Chinese riders advanced into the final, but all of them fell on their second run. Cai Xuetong finished 6th with 84.25, Li Shuang 8th at 73.25, while Liu Jiayu, fourth place in 2010 Vancouvour Olympics, ranked 9th at 68.25.

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