U.S. qualifies 4 for ski slopestyle finals
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Krasnaya Polyana, Russia (SportsNetwork.com) - Joss Christensen posted the best score in qualifying to lead a group of four freestyle skiers from the United States into the men's slopestyle finals Thursday at the Sochi Olympics.
All four Americans in the competition will get a chance at gold in Thursday's two-run final round when Olympic medals are awarded for the first time in men's ski slopestyle. The women's event debuted on Tuesday with Canada's Dara Howell taking gold and American Devil Logan earning silver.
Christensen, a 22-year-old from Park City, Utah, had the two best scores of the qualification round. He scored a 91.00 on his first run down the course at Rosa Khutor Extreme Park and bettered that mark with a 93.20.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Three-time X Games medalist Nicholas Goepper was fourth in qualifying for the Americans with a score of 87.00 and Gus Kenworthy was one place back in fifth.
Bobby Brown, a four-time winner of X Games gold, was the last of 12 skiers to qualify for the finals. After posting a score of 3.40 on his first run, Brown came through with an 83.00 in his second attempt to beat Finland's Antti Ollila for the last qualifying spot.
Norway's Andreas Haatveit and James Woods of Great Britain qualified in second and third place, respectively.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Alex Beaulieu-Marchand, the lone Canadian in the field, also moved on to the finals, finishing sixth with a score of 85.60.
The U.S. won gold in both the men's and women's snowboarding slopestyle events earlier in Sochi. Sage Kostenburg claimed gold for the American men and Jamie Anderson won the women's competition.