Kiwis make up quarter of freestyle halfpipe finalists
PYEONGCHANG: Jossi Wells is on the sidelines but New Zealand can thank him for its strong showing in the Winter Olympics men’s freeski halfpipe.
The country will make up a quarter of the halfpipe final after Wells’ brothers, Byron and BeauJames, and Nico Porteous qualified in PyeongChang yesterday.
Byron was fourth in qualification, one place and 0.4 points ahead of flagbearer BeauJames, whose two runs were both good enough to reach the final 12.
Nico Porteous claimed the secondlast qualification spot. His brother, Miguel, was the only Kiwi to miss out on the medal round, after finishing 17th.
Nico Porteous (16) put down two clean runs, improving on his first in which he failed to get enough air, to record 72.80 on his second.
Jossi Wells, who is considered one of the pioneers of New Zealand freestyle skiing, was fourth in the event in Sochi in 2014 but a serious injury prevented him returning four years later.
BeauJames said they did not want to let him down.
‘‘He was supposed to be here. I just hoped to do him proud,’’ he said.
‘‘I think I did because he’s the loudest one in the crowd at the moment.’’
Byron Wells was pleased to put aside the memories of Sochi where a training injury put him out of competition, scoring 88.6 points from first run.
‘‘Coming off Sochi and not being able to compete was devastating as I missed the whole vibe of dropping in at the Olympics,’’ Byron Wells said.
‘‘To land that first run and for the pressure to be off, I was having so much fun at the top, taking it all in.
‘‘It was cool to come back from that and have a really positive experience. It was absolutely key for me.’’
BeauJames Wells said breaking New Zealand’s 26year Winter Olympic medal drought joined by his brother on the podium would be the ultimate success.
‘‘His run was the best run I’ve seen him do in a long time. I’m hugely, hugely stoked for him and to be just behind him is also great,’’ BeauJames said.
‘‘For us to be both going through to the finals is the best position we could be in.
‘‘If either of us are on the podium, it’s just going to be the coolest thing in the world.’’
While New Zealand was strong, the Americans were stronger and loomed large for the final as Aaron Blunck, Alex Ferreira and Torin Yater Wallace qualified in the top three places respectively.
But it is a welcome result for a promising Kiwi freeski campaign which had looked set for disappointment when Jackson Wells, Finn Bilous (men’s slopestyle), Janina Kuzma and Britt Hawes (women’s halfpipe) were eliminated. The men’s halfpipe final will be held late afternoon tomorrow — NZN