ZHANGJIAKOU, China (Reuters) – Australia’s Jakara Anthony led the first round of qualifying in the women’s freestyle skiing moguls event at the Olympics on Thursday followed closely by defending champion Perrine Laffont of France while American Jaelin Kauf was third.
Canadian sisters Justine and Chloe Dufour-Lapointe finished 10th and 11th respectively, with the latter failing to qualify automatically.
The top 10 skiers from Thursday’s qualifiers advance to the first round of the finals, with a second round of qualifiers to be held on Sunday.
Kauf, who was widely favoured to win gold at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games but eventually finished seventh, told reporters on Wednesday that she wanted to remember to enjoy the ride even during a tough competition.
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.
(Reporting by Winni Zhou and Mari Saito; Editing by Ken Ferris)
