Mikael Kingsbury untouchable in men's moguls qualifying

Mikael Kingsbury, the heavy favorite for Olympic gold in men’s moguls, had no problem with the first round of qualifying. His score of 86.07 was far and away the top mark of the contest.

The Canadian, who won a silver medal at the 2014 Winter Olympics, has now advanced into the first round of the finals along with the rest of the top ten from Thursday’s qualifying round.

A second qualifying round will take place on Monday to determine the rest of the field for the finals. The first round of finals will take place shortly after.

Qualifying right behind Kingsbury was Aleksandr Smyshliaev, the 2014 Olympic bronze medalist. Smyshliaev competed at each of the last three Olympics under the Russian flag but is a member of the neutral “Olympic Athletes from Russia” team in PyeongChang. (Russia was banned from the Olympics by the IOC due to past doping transgressions.)

Troy Murphy, a 25-year-old skier from Maine, led all U.S. skiers with a fourth-place result in the qualifying round. Murphy’s spot in the first round of the finals is officially secure, but his three teammates (Casey Andringa, Brad Wilson and Emerson Smith) all finished outside of the top 10 and will now see their path go through the second qualifying round.

Among the other skiers advancing to the final was Kingsbury’s teammate Philippe Marquis. It was just one month ago that Marquis tore his ACL. Opting to fight through the pain and compete in PyeongChang, he ended up with a respectable eighth-place result in qualifying.

Competition will resume Monday morning (U.S. time) with the second qualifying round, followed by the finals.

Earlier in the day, Perrine Laffont of France was the top qualifier in the women’s moguls competition.

Results

The top 10 skiers from the first qualifying round have automatically advanced straight to the first round of finals. The remaining 20 skiers will compete in a second qualifying round on Monday, and the top 10 from that round will also move on to the first round of finals.

Advancing to Finals

1. Mikael Kingsbury (CAN), 86.07

2. Aleksandr Smyshliaev (OAR), 83.93

3. Dmitriy Reikherd (KAZ), 81.23

4. Troy Murphy (USA), 80.95

5. Ikuma Horishima (JPN), 80.35

6. Daichi Hara (JPN), 80.01

7. Pavel Kolmakov (KAZ), 79.98

8. Philippe Marquis (CAN), 77.77

9. Matt Graham (AUS), 77.28

10. Sacha Theocharis (FRA), 76.55