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Team USA sends all four women to snowboarding halfpipe final after qualifiers

By Michelle Bruton

PYEONGCHANG-GUN, SOUTH KOREA - FEBRUARY 09: A snowboarder practices ahead of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games at Phoenix Snow Park on February 9, 2018 in Pyeongchang-gun, South Korea. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)
PYEONGCHANG-GUN, SOUTH KOREA - FEBRUARY 09: A snowboarder practices ahead of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games at Phoenix Snow Park on February 9, 2018 in Pyeongchang-gun, South Korea. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images) /
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With qualifications wrapped, we now know which 12 women will advance to the snowboarding halfpipe final of the 2018 Winter Olympics.

24 women dropped into the halfpipe at Phoenix Snow Park late Sunday night (Eastern Time), but only half of them will continue on to the final in the hopes of earning a spot on the podium Monday night.

Following on the heels of Team USA’s Jamie Anderson winning her second consecutive gold medal in snowboarding slopestyle, fellow Americans Chloe Kim, Kelly Clark, Maddie Mastro and Arielle Gold will attempt to add to the medal haul in the halfpipe final.

Clark and Gold just barely made it, coming in at 11th and 12th, respectively.

The trick to nail to advance to the halfpipe final is a 1080 (three full rotations). A frontside 1080 straight into a backside (or “cab”) 1080 is the money combo in halfpipe.

The full results of the qualification round are below, including highlights from the cleanest and most progressive runs.

Women’s Halfpipe Qualifying Results

1. Chloe Kim, United States, 95.50

2. Jiayu Liu, China, 87.75

3. Haruna Matsumoto, Japan, 84.25

4. Maddie Mastro, United States, 83.75

5. Queralt Castellet, Spain, 71.50

6. Xuetong Cai, China, 69.00

7. Sena Tomita, Japan, 66.75

8. Emily Arthur, Australia, 66.50

9. Sophie Rodriguez, France, 65.00

10. Mirabelle Thovex, France, 64.25

11. Kelly Clark, United States, 63.25

12. Arielle Gold, United States, 62.75

Women’s Halfpipe Highlights

Unsurprisingly, Kim dominated, finishing first in qualifying:

The night before the qualifier, Kim was having a hard time quelling her nerves. But after her fantastic first run, Kim was ready to reward herself:

And yes, she was still competing when she sent that tweet, but her ice cream cravings were anything but a distraction; she beat her first run considerably when she earned a 95.50 on her second.

Kelly Clark wiped out on her first run, but did enough to qualify on her second run when she went from a frontside 720 into a backside 720 to earn a 63.25:

PYEONGCHANG-GUN, SOUTH KOREA – FEBRUARY 12: Kelly Clark of the United States competes in the Snowboard Ladies’ Halfpipe Qualification on day three of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games at Phoenix Snow Park on February 12, 2018 in Pyeongchang-gun, South Korea. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)
PYEONGCHANG-GUN, SOUTH KOREA – FEBRUARY 12: Kelly Clark of the United States competes in the Snowboard Ladies’ Halfpipe Qualification on day three of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games at Phoenix Snow Park on February 12, 2018 in Pyeongchang-gun, South Korea. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images) /

Clark won gold at the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City and took home bronze both in the 2010 Vancouver Games and 2014 Sochi Games.

No stranger to falling on her first run, Clark did the same thing in Vancouver and Sochi, proving she has what it takes to land on her feet — literally.

Team USA’s Mastro dropped a frontside 900 in the pipe to secure a qualifying spot, but is no doubt saving her frontside 1080 for the final:

Related Story: Team USA's Jamie Anderson wins gold in snowboarding slopestyle

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