PYEONGCHANG, South Korea — Cassie Sharpe put on a show in the women’s freestyle halfpipe final on Tuesday, soaring to a 95.80 during her second run to give Canada its first Olympic medal in the event pioneered by the late Canadian star Sarah Burke.

Sharpe topped qualifying on Monday with a pair of big runs and went even higher in the finals. Her winning run included a 1080-degree spin and the kind of air the rest of the 12-woman field simply couldn’t match.

France’s Marie Martinod added a second silver to go with the one she captured in Sochi four years ago when the sport made its Olympic debut. Martinod scored 92.60 on her second run but fell during her third to assure Sharpe of the gold.

American Brita Sigourney edged teammate Annalisa Drew for bronze. Drew scored 90.80 on her final run to slip past Sigourney only to have Sigourney, the next skier down, put up a 91.80.

Defending Olympic champion Maddie Bowman of the United States fell on the final hit during each of her three runs in the finals.

Burke helped pave the way for halfpipe to reach the Olympics, winning four X Games in the event. She died in 2012 following complications from a training fall in Park City, Utah.

Sharpe is among a group of skiers carrying on Burke’s legacy. The group includes Martinod, who was considering retirement before the sport became part of the Olympic program. Burke talked her out of it, saying Martinod needed to help show the world what freestyle halfpipe skiing was all about.

Vonn’s last shot

JEONGSEON, South Korea — Lindsey Vonn prefers not to dwell on what shapes up as a significant story line for the women’s downhill at the Pyeongchang Games.

“I’ve tried not to think about it as being my last Olympic downhill. Just focus on the moment, the right here and the right now. And I think later I’ll reflect on how much I enjoyed it and how much my teammates and my coaches made it special for me,” Vonn said ahead of Wednesday’s contest. “But you can’t get too sentimental right now, because I still have to race. I still have to be focused. And afterward, I’ll do some reflecting.”

What she also hopes to do, of course, is win a second gold medal in her sport’s fastest event, to go along with the one from the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

Vonn missed the Sochi Games four years ago after tearing ligaments in her right knee and has said these will be her last go-round at an Olympics.

She was asked this week how her health is at the moment.

“Everything’s great. I feel like a million bucks,” she said with a smile. “And 33!”

Vonn, generally considered the greatest female ski racer in history, was in strong form heading into these Olympics, winning the last three World Cup downhills she entered beforehand.

Most consider her the favorite Wednesday, and she looked good in training runs, including producing the fastest time Sunday and the third-fastest Monday.

Showdown on ice

PYEONGCHANG, South Korea — The United States will play for a gold medal in women’s hockey for the third straight Olympics.

Four-time defending champion Canada will be waiting for them.

The Americans had a 5-0 victory over Finland in the semifinals, a score that Canada matched against the Russians later Monday to set up the gold medal showdown between the two premier women’s hockey powers.

The United States will be trying to win its first gold medal since 1998. Canada has won the last four gold medals.

“It’s honestly a dream come true,” U.S. forward Hilary Knight said. “This is the world’s biggest stage. This is the game that you want. This is the game we’ve been dreaming of and to have another opportunity to get back here, it’s huge.”

Dani Cameranesi scored two goals and added an assist to push the Americans to their big win over Finland. The 22-year-old Cameranesi is playing in her first Olympics.

Curling controversy

A doping charge against curling bronze medalist Alexander Krushelnitsky could keep Russia from being reinstated before the end of the Winter Olympics.

IOC spokesman Mark Adams confirmed the positive test and said it could have “consequences” in evaluating the behavior of the Russian team.