Kelly keeps crushin' it

Accolades continue to snowball for Estonia's Sildaru

The list of "firsts" Kelly Sildaru has next to her name continues to grow after she secured bronze in the women's freeski slopestyle on Tuesday at the Beijing Winter Games, becoming the first Estonian athlete to win an Olympic medal in freestyle skiing.

Born in 2002, she has also become the youngest Olympic medalist from Estonia in either the summer or winter edition of the Games.

Wearing a black snow jacket and maroon pants, Sildaru stood out against the brilliant white course during Tuesday's final. With her signature long, blonde hair flowing out from her black helmet, the 19-year-old made one last check on her skis and poles before taking a deep breath and setting off on her run.

The Estonian flagbearer was the last among all 12 athletes to set off in the final after she received the highest score (86.15) during qualification.

She finished her first run with a 900-degree rotation and a tailgrab (grabbing the back of the skis).

Her impressive moves and perfect landing gave her a score of 82.06, enabling her to nail a medal despite mistakes in the second run and a low-scoring third.

Switzerland's Mathilde Gremaud won gold and China's Gu Ailing secured silver.

"My first run was pretty much like a safe run. That run brought me bronze. I mean I'm happy about it, but it would have been better when I could have put down a better run," she said post-race.

Although the failure in the second run blocked her path to the gold medal, Sildaru is still enjoying herself at her first Olympics.

"When I'm skiing, I'm just going to do my best. So I just need to enjoy myself and I'm not trying to focus too much on the medals or on the podium or stuff like that. It's more about my skiing."

Her passion for skiing and hard work have earned Sildaru a series of titles at a young age.