Justine Dufour-Lapointe grabs final automatic qualifying spot for Olympic moguls final | CBC Sports

Chloé just missed advancing directly to the final, placing 11th with 70.31 points while becoming the first Canadian woman to compete in freestyle skiing at four Winter Games. Sofiane Gagnon of Whistler, B.C., was 14th of 25 finishers (68.47) and will join her teammate on Sunday in battling for the remaining 10 spots for the first final.

Later Thursday, reigning Olympic champion Mikaël Kingsbury of Deux-Montagnes, Que., will compete in the men’s qualification round at Genting Snow Park.

Australia’s Jakara Anthony led the opening round of women’s qualifying with a score of 83.75, followed by defending Olympic gold medallist Perrine Laffont of France with 81.11. American Jaelin Kauf rounded out the top three with 79.15 points.

WATCH | Justine Dufour-Lapointe top Canadian in women’s moguls qualifying:

Justine Dufour-Lapointe secures spot in women’s moguls final

Montreal’s Justine Dufour-Lapointe, 2014 Olympic champion and 2018 Olympic silver medallist, finishes tenth in women’s moguls qualification 1 with a score of 71.45. Chloe Dufour-Lapointe and Sofiane Gagnon will have another opportunity to advance in qualification 2. 1:35

Justine, the two-time Olympic medallist, sported a wide grin and blew kisses to her Canadian fans back home after her run. Those who called the race were a little surprised at a lower-than-expected score for the 27-year-old and wondered if the judges saw a couple of bobbles in her performance.

Justine, who won Olympic gold in 2014 and silver four years later, was in complete control in the middle part of her run before delivering a cork 720 trick.

Chloe, 30, was the first to ski of the Canadian trio and had her knees driving up and down in control through the moguls with the song You Spin Me Round (Like a Record) by former English pop band Dead or Alive blaring over the sound system in the background.

The 2014 silver medallist was a little out of control at the bottom of her 28.85-second run and earned 15.49 points for her time, 11.32 on air and 43.5 from a panel of judges on her turns.

The 22-year-old Gagnon showcased a single backflip in the tuck position she executed perfectly before losing a bit of control near the end of her run.

Some notable athletes missed Thursday’s competition:

• Yuliya Galysheva from Kazakhstan, who won bronze at the 2018 Games, did not appear at the starting line.
• American Kai Owens, who fell during a practice session earlier this week, also did not participate in the day’s qualifiers.