The four-man team, which included Nichols’ WA training partner Lucas Mata and eastern states athletes Heath Spence and Duncan Harvey, came within 0.3 of a second of a place in the final 20.
The side finished 22nd with a combined time of 2 mins 48.64 secs after three heats, needing to beat the 20th-placed South Koreans’ 2 mins 48.34 secs to qualify for the final heat.
The Russian team took gold in the event.
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READ NOWNichols was one of two local athletes competing at the games with skiing up-and-comer Greta Small, of Darch, Australia’s best-performed alpine competitor. As one of the youngest entrants at age 18, Small ” making her Olympic debut ” proved her star was on the rise against opponents up to more than 10 years her senior.
The hardworking teenager’s best performance came in the Super Combined Slalom where she ranked 15th out of 34 skiers, 12 of whom did not complete the event.