Canada's Mackenzie Boyd-Clowes qualifies in men's ski jumping
26-year-old reaches 98 metres to secure spot with a score of 114.6
By CBC Sports
Canada's Mackenzie Boyd-Clowes will continue his quest for a medal on Saturday after finishing 23rd in the men's normal hill individual ski jumping qualification.
The 26-year-old from Calgary, Alta., reached 98 metres to earn a score of 114.6 on Thursday in Pyeongchang.
🇨🇦 Mackenzie Boyd-Clowes qualified for the next round of ski jumping after scoring 114.6 on his first jump of the Olympics.<br><br>Watch live here: <a href="https://t.co/c8AC90Ep3r">https://t.co/c8AC90Ep3r</a> <a href="https://t.co/fv8RnvZTiJ">pic.twitter.com/fv8RnvZTiJ</a>
—@CBCOlympicsIt is Boyd-Clowes' third Olympic Games, with his best result being a 25th-place finish in large hill at the Sochi Games.
Germany's Andreas Wellinger had the day's best performance, topping the qualification round with a 103-metre jump for a score of 133.5.
The 22-year-old, who already qualified because he was among the top 10-ranked jumpers on the normal hill going into the event, beat defending Olympic champion Kamil Stoch of Poland, who finished second.
'Competitors are really close'
"I think a lot of competitors are really close, especially on the normal hill," Wellinger said. "If I am able to show my jumps, I think I can fight for the podium."
Wellinger is third in the overall World Cup standings this season and is among the gold medal favourites in Pyeongchang.
Dawid Kubacki of Poland, who also pre-qualified, finished third ahead of Richard Freitag of Germany.
Two-time Olympic champion Simon Ammann qualified 10th among those who had to jump for a spot Saturday.
The top 50 competitors advanced to the next round, which will stream live Saturday (CBC.ca/Olympics, 7:35 a.m. ET).
With files from the Associated Press