Freestyle skiing fans will be looking forward to the final of the Men’s halfpipe on Saturday and the USA has a great chance of featuring in the medals at the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics.
We take a look at the history of the men's skiing halfpipe competition, how it works, and who will be aiming for gold this weekend.
Schedule
Qualification for the men’s skiing halfpipe had to be postponed due to the weather and will now take place on Friday September 20.
There will be three runs in the men’s skiing halfpipe final, the first of which was due to take place on Friday at 1.30pm ET (7.30pm local time).
A second run would have been at 1.59pm ET (7.59pm local time), while the final run, which will contain the top 12 skiers from the opening two rounds, would have begun at 2.28pm ET (8.28pm local time).
New times are due to be announced once the weather picture is clearer.
Venue
The men’s skiing halfpipe will take place at the Livigno Snow Park.
The venue has hosted some of the most spectacular events of the Games with ski cross, slopestyle and big air, and more thrills and spills are expected with the men’s skiing halfpipe and then women’s event, which will be the final event at the park.
History of men's skiing halfpipe
Freestyle skiing first featured at the 1988 Olympics as a demonstration sport and the halfpipe was introduced alongside slopestyle at the 2014 Games in Sochi, Russia, having first appeared at the Winter X Games in 2002.
David Wise of the USA was the first gold medal winner and he was able to successfully defend his title at Pyeongchang in South Korea four years later.
The man from Reno went for a hat-trick in Beijing four years later, but he had to be content with a silver as New Zealand’s Nico Porteous came out on top.
How it works
After qualification, the competitors will take part in two runs before the final 12 will be involved in the medal run.
Each skier will head individually down the U-shaped snow channel which measures 250m in length with 22ft-high walls. They will then have the opportunity to do five or six tricks or jumps as they look to impress the five judges.
They will each be judged on the following criteria: difficulty, amplitude (how high the skier rises above the lip of the pipe), variety, execution and progression (i.e. originality and pushing the boundaries).
The five elements make an overall impression mark out of 100 and, after the highest and lowest scores have been eliminated, the average of the remaining three makes up the final mark.
Team USA medal prospects
While New Zealand’s Finley Melville-Ives is favourite to be crowned Olympic champion, there are four American athletes who all have a strong chance of bringing home gold.
Alex Ferreira will feel that his time has come after he was second in Pyeongchang and then had to settle for bronze in Beijing.
He has won three X Games titles in 2019, 2020 and 2024 and would love to add the sport’s biggest prize to his collection.
Nick Goepper has made no secret of the fact that only finishing first at the Olympics will do as he has already medalled at the last two Games in slopestyle, but he has claimed an X Games silver along with a World Cup success so he deserves to be considered a realistic medal hope.
The strong team is completed by Hunter Hess, who has twice claimed a bronze medal at the X Games and Birk Irving, who won the Junior Olympics in Lillehammer in 2016 and was fifth in Beijing four years ago.
Read more betting picks and predictions for the Olympics on site.
Men's Skiing Halfpipe Final Odds
Finley Melville-Ives | -200 |
Alex Ferreira | +450 |
Nick Goepper | +500 |
Hunter Hess | +1200 |
Brendan Mackay | +1400 |
Luke Harrold | +1600 |
Birk Irving | +2000 |
Gus Kenworthy | +2000 |
Andrew Longino | +2800 |
Dylan Marineau | +4000 |
Ben Harrington | +5000 |
Toma Matsuura | +6600 |
Read the latest Olympics news on site.
This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.
