SOCHI, Russia, Feb. 6 (UPI) -- After winning gold in Vancouver four years ago, American Hannah Kearney took the top spot in the women’s moguls qualifying round and will automatically get a chance to defend her title in Saturday’s final.
“I think that everywhere we go, every World Cup venue, we show up and say, ‘Oh, my god. How are we going to make it down this course? This is impossible,”’ Kearney said, according to the Canadian Press. “The course is great. It’s challenging but in a very positive way. It’s going to separate the weak skiers from the strong skiers, hopefully.”
The 27-year-old posted a score of 23.05 to take first place and Canadian Chloe Dufour-Lapointe finished second. Dufour-Lapointe’s sisters, Justine and Maxime also both qualified for the finals.
Another Canadian, Audrey Robichaud qualified with a score of 20.61. “I really made a lot of progress, but the fact that I had not skied in competition last month worried me a little,” Robichaud said. “It feels good to be back.”
All in all, 10 skiers earned an automatic trip to the finals, while the rest of the remaining competitors will compete for an another 10 spots during an additional qualifying run on Saturday.
Rounding out the qualifiers were Eliza Outrim, Perrine Laffont, Yulia Galysheva, Aiko Uemura and Regina Rakhimova.
[The Globe and Mail] [Sochi 2014]
