Ski halfpipe competitors got handed a bad draw tonight here in Sochi, as inclement weather is making for a rough start to tonight's competition.
Justin Dorey just boosted his way to the top qualifying position, buoyed by a massive rightside double cork 1260 on his first hit. He's followed by David Wise, who put down a solid safety run including a leftside double cork 12, to qualify second with an 88.4. The top three qualifiers are rounded out by Ben Valentin of France, who stomped a dub 12 tail deep in the transition on his last hit.
The surprise of the night is Torin Yater-Wallace failing to make the finals. After uncharacteristically falling on the first hit of his first run, TYW went for broke on his second, boosting what would have been a solid qualifying run. But on his last hit, a rightside cork 1080, he barely managed to hold on to the landing, riding switch into the opposite wall and hip-checking. The judges counted that as a fall and handed Torin a score of 39, and the 26th qualifying place.
Finals go down in about an hour, let's hope conditions improve and our skiers can put on a good show.
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