(BEIJING) — Defending Olympic champion snowboarder Chloe Kim cruised through the halfpipe on her first run.
She scored 87.75, good enough for the top spot in women’s qualifying Wednesday at Genting Snow Park.
The 21-year-old from California turned it up a notch in run No. 2, but fell on her switch backside 720. She raised her hand as if to say, “Oh well.” She playfully stuck out her tongue while waiting for her score.
Mitsuki Ono of Japan was second in qualifying. This a day after appearing to be bothered by a hip ailment in training and in some discomfort. Cai Xuetong of China had the third-best score in qualifying, with Queralt Castellet of Spain also in the mix.
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The biggest surprise was the performance of American Maddie Mastro, who finished just outside of the top-12 that advanced to Thursday’s final. She was in the last spot but was bumped out by one of the final riders, Elizabeth Hosking of Canada.
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After falling on his first attempt, snowboarder Shaun White hammered down a pressure-packed halfpipe qualifying run to make it through to the medal round of his fifth and final Olympics.
The three-time gold medalist fell on his signature trick on his first run — the Double McTwist 1260 — and was mired in 19th place.
After a 50-minute wait following his fall, White returned to the top of the pipe and nailed the same run he’d tried before.
Each rider got two tries and only their best score counted. The top 12 advanced to Friday’s final. White ended up in fourth.
He stomped every landing and yell out a “Yeahhhh” at the bottom. He qualified behind two-time silver medalist Ayumu Hirano, 2018 bronze medalist Scotty James and Hirano’s Japanese teammate, Ruka Hirano.