Winter Olympics: Brown 25th in half pipe

New Zealand snowboarder Mitchell Brown secured a midfield finish in the halfpipe at the Winter Olympics in Italy today.

Brown, 18, of Mt Maunganui, came 25th in a field of 44 in Turin.

He was the first New Zealander in action at the Games.

Brown scored 28.3 points and did not advance to the medal round, where American Shaun White won with a score of 46.8, followed by compatriot Daniel Kass on 44.0, while Finland's Markku Koski secured the bronze medal with 41.5.

Brown was ranked 39th before the competition, so he made a significant advance.

"I'm super happy, stoked," he said.

"That's the best run I've ever had in the halfpipe. I was a bit nervous in the first run, but on the second one I really went for it.

"I tried a few tricks I've learnt during the week and they worked.

"Competing at the Olympics is a dream for me, so to go out there and nail my second run was awesome."

Brown's sister Kendall, 16, competes in the halfpipe tomorrow, along with New Zealand's No 1 ranked snowboarder, Juliane Bray.- NZPA