But relief would have been the overriding emotion among the New Zealand team in Beijing as a mixed day ended with a terrifying crash.
After six New Zealand freeskiers competed in today’s halfpipe qualification at Genting Snow Park, only Porteous and older brother Miguel had secured spots in Saturday’s final.
Any disappointment, however, was replaced by concern for Ben Harrington, whose hopes of making it three Kiwis in the men’s final ended almost in disaster.
The 22-year-old was approaching the end of an expansive second run when he lost control in the air and crashed heavily on the lip of the pipe.
Harrington seemed to hit his head and initially appeared motionless as medics and his compatriots raced to his side. But after a few worrying moments he was helped to his feet and skied to the bottom of the course.
"I’m OK, I’m just bummed," Harrington later said.
Miguel Porteous, having just sealed a berth in his first Olympic final, was experiencing "weird emotions" after his personal high was completely overshadowed.
"That was one of the gnarliest crashes I’ve ever seen in the pipe," Miguel said.
Both Porteous brothers will now have plenty of time to recover from that shock before chasing a podium place, with Nico looking capable and confident of adding another medal to the bronze he won in the same event four years ago.
The 20-year-old, reigning world and X Games champion, qualified for the final in second after an eye-catching second run, responding well an underwhelming opening effort.
"I put a bit of pressure on myself after that first run," Nico said after a solid if unspectacular effort brought a score of 75.50.
"I didn’t quite ski the way I wanted to and missed a couple of grabs — sort of getting the Olympic jitters out of the way."
They had certainly been banished by the time Nico dropped in for his second attempt.
Sitting precariously in eighth after the 23-strong field had completed the opening round, with only the top 12 progressing to the final, the Wanaka skier once more delivered when it mattered.
Nico put down a near-flawless technical run that was highlighted by a huge double cork 1620, providing a succinct verdict to the cameras while waiting for his score: "That was better."
The judges rewarded him with a mark of 90.50, moving him into second behind American Aaron Blunck (92.00) and providing a psychological boost ahead of Saturday’s shootout for the medals.
Nico said he had been attempting, with little success, to ignore the stakes involved with Olympic competition, but the presence of big brother Miguel in the final will surely help.
The 22-year-old fired in his first run to receive an opening score of 81.00, eventually qualifying in ninth after an abandoned second effort.
Harrington’s first score of 69.25 saw him end the competition only 1.5 points off the all-important 12th position while 16-year-old Gustav Legnavsky finished 19th.
New Zealand freeskiers Chloe McMillan and Anja Barugh fell well short of reaching the women’s halfpipe final, finishing 18th and 19th in qualifying respectively.
Both McMillan and Barugh were making their Olympic debuts but struggled to display any significant amplitude during their two runs, recording best scores of 43.50 and
38.50 respectively.
Twelve of the 20 competitors progressed to the final with the cut-off score being 71.50, while Chinese world champion and big air gold medallist Eileen Gu Ailing qualified top with a best score of 95.50.
Barugh started smoothly with a 540 but soon lost all momentum in the middle of her run, failing to get enough air out of the pipe to impress the judges.
Unfortunately for the Kiwis, that was a sign of things to come.
Barugh (22) again struggled for speed during her second run and crashed in the middle of the course, unable to find the amplitude needed to execute a trick.
McMillan (21) fared slightly better than her teammate but also lacked the speed required to generate any real air.
There are no New Zealanders in action today.
— The New Zealand Herald / Additional reporting staff reporter
