Wānaka snowboarder Cam Melville Ives has qualified for the final of the halfpipe competition at the Winter Olympics in Italy.
Melville Ives finished eighth in qualification, with Australian Scotty James leading the top 12 to progress from 24 starters at Livigno Snow Park this morning (NZ time).
In the halfpipe, riders slide across a 6.7-metre-tall, U-shaped ramp and perform acrobatic manoeuvres in the air. Judges award points based on amplitude, variety, difficulty and other factors, with a maximum score of 100.
The 19-year-old Kiwi was happy with his first run, which included a frontside triple cork 1440 and scored 84.75, putting him into sixth place.
James, 31, claimed halfpipe silver four years ago in Beijing and bronze in Pyeongchang in 2018. He is the current world champion and scored the best run of today with a 94.00.
He then had a nervous wait as the rest of the field completed their second runs, but held on to eighth place and a spot in Saturday morning's final (NZ time).
"It's definitely a high-level qualification everyone was getting after it for sure," Melville Ives told Sky Sport afterwards.
"I just got to focus on riding clean and putting as run down.
"Hopefully I can land some sick runs in finals. I'm hyped, it's going to be super fun."
Melville Ives went into the Olympics on the back of a silver medal performance at the FIS World Cup in Switzerland.
In the women's competition, American snowboarder Chloe Kim cruised into the halfpipe finals, showing off high-altitude tricks to easily lead the field as she moved a step closer to claiming a third straight gold medal.
Kim, one of the greatest snowboarders to date, burst into a broad smile when she finished an impressive first run in Livigno.
The 25-year-old showed no signs that she was bothered by a shoulder injury a month ago. She outpaced competitors by a healthy margin with a score of 90.25.
Her closest rival, Sara Shimizu of Japan, finished at 87.50.
- additional reporting by Reuters
