If you think there’s no room for dreamers in the Olympics, then you probably think Cal graduate Liz Swaney doesn’t belong alongside the world-class athletes competing in Bongpyeong, South Korea.

But Swaney is not only there, the Oakland woman became arguably the most talked about athlete at the Games on Sunday after her puzzling halfpipe practice run Sunday.

The internet was ablaze after Swaney’s pedestrian effort as many saw her as more of a schemer than a dreamer. (Well, she did prove her gumption when she launched a campaign to run for governor of California against Arnold Schwarzenegger while an undergrad at Berkeley).

@ElizabethSwaney traveled across the globe, asked others to pay for it, and jobbed the system just to disrespect the competition. She's a narcissist and a joke. — Grease (@parmistan) February 19, 2018

Just read about Elizabeth Swaney, the unskilled Freestyle skier. I understand how she gamed the system but why? Such a waste of time. — Groot is dead (@tdubya86) February 19, 2018

Swaney, competing for Hungary through a loophole, didn’t attempt any of the jumps or tricks that make the competition such a popular spectator event. The 33-year-old who went to high school at Oakland’s Bentley School simply skied. And she did it rather casually, mustering up only one 180-degree turn.

For comparison’s sake, here’s how Maddie Bowman won the gold medal in women’s halfpipe at the Sochi Olympics.

Predictably, Swaney is in last place heading into qualifying with a high score of only 31.4 after two runs. She’s no threat to be on the medal stand, watching her Sunday makes one wonder how she managed to share the stage with the world’s best?

Hard work, for sure. According to the Denver Post, Swaney has been competing in World Cup events since 2013 while pursuing her Olympic dream.

She occasionally found time to support her alma mater, though.

Her grandparents came from Hungary, which had never had a competitor in the women’s halfpipe competition, so Swaney had a fighter’s chance. Plus, she just needed a top 30 finish at a World Cup event in order to qualify for Olympic consideration. Swaney was able to earn her Olympic berth mostly by merely competing at World Cup events, since there are rarely more than 30 women at any given event.

So Swaney juggled her job as a software engineer recruiter for Thumbtack with some honest-to-goodness difficult training and some strategic thinking. When most of the world’s best skiers were competing in the Grand Prix in Breckenridge, Colo., Swaney was at a small World Cup event in China, where she finished a career-best 13th out of 15 skiers when two competitors fell.

“Her persistence is probably her biggest strength, so she’s always there and she’s gone to all the World Cups and she’s put in the time and the miles. She has made some significant improvements on the water ramp, but wasn’t necessarily able to take those tricks to snow,” said Chris Haslock, the free ski and snowboard program director at Park City Ski & Snowboard in Utah, where Swaney has trained.

Canada’s Cassie Sharpe, another Olympic halfpipe competitor, didn’t have a problem with how Swaney got here.

“If you are going to put in the time and effort to be here, then you deserve to be here as much as I do,” said Sharpe.

While Swaney did fulfill a giant dream by merely making the Olympics, she also hopes her journey serves as an inspiration to others.

“I’m just trying to do the best for myself and represent Hungary as best as I can,” she told the Denver Post just before her final practice on Sunday. “I really hope to inspire others in Hungary to take up freestyle skiing and I hope that contributes to a greater number of people out there freestyle skiing.”

But, there are already signs it will be much more difficult for anyone to follow Swaney’s improbable path.

“There are going to be changes to World Cup quotas and qualifying to be eligible for the Olympics,” warned halfpipe judge Steele Spence.

So much for letting dreamers dream.

PHOTOS: Highlights from Day 11 of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games