FitzSimons, Gerard, Corning Into Slopestyle Finals
First-time Olympian Sean FitzSimons, defending Olympic gold medalist Red Gerard, and returning Olympian Chris Corning all advanced to the Olympic Winter Games slopestyle finals on Monday, Feb. 7., from Sunday's qualifiers.
The riders stepped it up in the sunny, sub-zero conditions, taking the sculpted features of the Genting Snowpark head-on. Thirty men were narrowed down to twelve, advancing in a best-of-two-run format.
FitzSimons was the top-ranked U.S. rider in today’s qualifiers, earning third place with a score of 78.76. FitzSimons came into these Olympics after winning the Laax Open to clinch the final spot on the U.S. Men’s Slopestyle team. His confidence was undoubtedly boosted Sunday, as he looked effortless charging down the course, linking up a switch backside double cork 1260 into back-to-back 1440s.
FitzSimons said, “Landing my first run felt really good. No pressure dropping into my second run, which almost never happens.”
He’s a fan of the Genting Snowpark course, he says, “It’s awesome, there’s a lot going on for sure especially in the rail section, I’ve been having a blast, and I had a blast on it today, it was riding as good as it had been and yeah it’s been super fun.” FitzSimons predicts that finals are shaping up to be “one of the heaviest slope contests ever.”
Defending gold medalist Gerard finished fifth Sunday with a score of 78.20. His strategy heading into Monday’s final is to channel the mindset he brought into PyeongChang’s slopestyle final in 2018. He says, “I’ve tried to bring it back down to that scale of when I was younger and just focus on my riding. All I really want to do is just land some runs tomorrow, and I’d be happy with myself.”
Chris Corning came back to put down a clutch performance on his second run, earning 11th place with a score of 69.30 to advance. Corning says, “I was a little nervous there, I was shaking at the top, but I’m happy that I was able to believe in myself and put a run down like that.”
Dusty Henricksen finished seventeenth, ending his slopestyle bid, but he will return to competition for the Big Air event.
The top qualifiers of the day were seventeen-year-old Su Yiming of China, competing in his first Olympics, followed by 2018 bronze medalist Canada’s Mark McMorris in second.
Monday’s finals will consist of twelve men competing in a best of a three-run final to determine who will take home an Olympic medal. Fans in North America can tune in to watch Sunday, Feb. 6. At 11 p.m. EST on NBCOlympics.com and Peacock.
RESULTS
Men’s slopestyle qualifiers
START LIST
Men’s slopestyle finals
HOW TO WATCH
*All times EST
Please note: Streaming services and apps are third-party services and subject to such parties’ terms of use and data privacy. U.S. Ski & Snowboard disclaims any and all liability for use of third-party services and apps.
Sunday, Feb. 6, 2022
11:00 p.m. Snowboarding – Men's Slopestyle Final, Secret Garden, Zhangjiakou, CHN, NBCOlympics.com, Streaming Peacock
Monday, Feb. 7, 2022
2:00 a.m. Snowboarding – Men's Slopestyle Final, Genting Snow Park, Zhangjiakou, CHN, USA Network
6:00 a.m. Winter Olympics Medal Ceremonies Day 3, NBCOlympics.com, Streaming Peacock
9:40 p.m. Snowboarding – M/W Parallel Giant Slalom Qualifying, Genting Snow Park, Zhangjiakou, CHN, NBCOlympics.com, Streaming Peacock
Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2022
6:00 a.m. 2022 Winter Olympics Medal Ceremonies, Day 4 – Streaming Peacock, NBCOlympics.com
12:00 p.m. Snowboarding – Men’s and Women’s Parallel Giant Slalom Finals, Genting Snow Park, Zhangjiakou, CHN, USA Network
8:00 p.m. Primetime Broadcast – Snowboarding Women’s Halfpipe, Alpine Women’s Slalom, Freestyle Mewn’s Big Air, NBC Broadcast
8:30 p.m. Snowboarding – Women’s Halfpipe Qualifying, Secret Garden, CHN, USA Network, Streaming Peacock, NBCOlympics.com
10:00 p.m. Snowboarding – Women’s Snowboard Cross Qualifiers, Genting Snow Park, Zhangjiakou, CHN, USA Network, NBCOlympics.com, Streaming Peacock
11:30 p.m. Snowboarding – Men’s Halfpipe Qualifying, Genting Snow Park, Zhangjiakou, CHN, NBCOlympics.com, Streaming Peacock, NBC Broadcast
Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2022
1:30 a.m. Snowboarding – Women’s Snowboard Cross Finals, Genting Snow Park, Zhangjiakou, CHN, USA Network, NBCOlympics.com, Streaming Peacock
2:00 a.m. Primetime – Snowboarding Women’s Halfpipe Qualifying, Alpine Skiing Women’s Slalom, Freestyle Men’s Big Air (re-air), NBC Broadcast
5:00 a.m. Primetime – Snowboarding Women’s Halfpipe Qualifying, Alpine Skiing Women’s Slalom, Freestyle Men’s Big Air (re-air), NBC Broadcast
6:30 a.m. 2022 Winter Olympics Medal Ceremonies Day 5, NBC Broadcast
2:00 p.m. Daytime – Alpine Skiing Women’s Slalom, Nordic Combined Men’s Normal Hill & 10km, Snowboarding Women’s Snowboardcross Final, NBC Broadcast
8:00 p.m. Primetime – Snowboarding Women’s Halfpipe, NBC Broadcast
10:15 p.m. Snowboarding – Mens’ Snowboard Cross Qualifying, Genting Snow Park, Zhangjiakou, CHN, NBCOlympics.com, Streaming Peacock
10:50 p.m. Snowboarding – Mens’ Snowboard Cross Qualifying, Genting Snow Park, Zhangjiakou, CHN, USA Network
Sport-specific broadcast and streaming schedules are available below:
Broadcast and streaming schedules are updated on a daily basis throughout the season.
