Austria’s Michael Hayboeck topped normal hill qualifying in men’s ski jumping today at RusSki Gorki Jumping Center, netting a total of 128.6 that was enough to beat Germany’s Andreas Wank (second, 127.9) and Japan’s Reruhi Shimizu (third, 126.2).
The Top 40 in today’s qualification round – not counting the 10 jumpers that have already pre-qualified due to their positions in the World Cup standings – move on to tomorrow’s medal event that begins at 12:30 p.m. ET.
Three of the four Americans were able to make the cut today. Anders Johnson led the U.S. with a 26th place showing (total of 107.9), followed by Peter Frenette in 35th and Nick Alexander in 40th. Nick Fairall, the U.S. Olympic Trials winner, was the one unable to advance; he was 50th.
MORE: U.S. in medal position after Day 2 of team figure skating
Three-time Olympic champion Thomas Morgenstern qualified ninth, a positive step for him as he makes his way back from the injuries he sustained in a vicious training crash last month.
Tomorrow will see competitors take two jumps, which are added together to determine the winner. However, only the Top 30 competitors after the first jump will go to the second.
Here’s the ten jumpers that have pre-qualified already:
Kamil Stoch (POL)
Peter Prevc (SLO)
Noriaki Kasai (JPN)
Gregor Schlierenzauer (AUT)
Severin Freund (GER)
Simon Ammann (SUI)
Anders Bardal (NOR)
Andreas Wellinger (GER)
Thomas Diethart (AUT)
Robert Kranjec (SLO)