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U.S. Olympic snowboard, freestyle skiing qualifying heats up this week

2016 U.S. Snowboarding Park City Grand Prix - Snowboard Halfpipe Finals

PARK CITY, UT - FEBRUARY 06: Chloe Kim celebrates a first place finish in the ladies’ FIS Snowboard World Cup at the 2016 U.S Snowboarding Park City Grand Prix on February 6, 2016 in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)

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It’s likely that the first members of the U.S. Olympic snowboard and freestyle skiing teams will emerge from Breckenridge, Colo., this weekend.

Snowboard and ski halfpipe and slopestyle finals are Friday and Saturday, streamed on DewTour.com.

The following athletes will qualify for Pyeongchang with a win in Breckenridge (and might still qualify with a lesser result) as the selection season hits the halfway point:

Ben Ferguson (snowboard halfpipe)
Chloe Kim
(snowboard halfpipe)
Chris Corning (snowboard slopestyle)
Red Gerard (snowboard slopestyle)
Jamie Anderson (snowboard slopestyle)
Julia Marino
(snowboard slopestyle)
David Wise (ski halfpipe)
Torin Yater-Wallace (ski halfpipe)
Maddie Bowman (ski halfpipe)
Devin Logan (ski halfpipe)
Maggie Voisin (ski slopestyle)

An event-by-event look at U.S. Olympic qualifying going into Breckenridge:

Snowboard Halfpipe
Qualifying Standings
(through one of four events)
1. Ben Ferguson -- 1000*
2. Shaun White -- 800*
3. Danny Davis -- 600
4. Gabe Ferguson -- 500
5. Chase Josey -- 450

1. Chloe Kim -- 1000*
2. Maddie Mastro -- 800*
3. Kelly Clark -- 600*
4. Arielle Gold -- 500
5. Elena Hight -- 450
*Has automatic qualifying minimum of one top-three result.

Men: Ben Ferguson, the 2016 Winter X Games silver medalist, was the surprise top U.S. man at the first Olympic qualifier last week, edging the favorite and two-time Olympic champion White. Ferguson makes the Olympic team if he’s the top American this week, while White would have all but clinched his fourth Olympic trip if he was the top American, but he failed to make the final.

Women: Like Ferguson, Kim will make her first Olympic team with a win this week. She would have made the Sochi roster but was too young at age 13. The two-time X Games champ led a U.S. podium sweep last week with Mastro and the 2002 Olympic champion Clark, who are now the favorites to claim the three automatic Olympic berths available in qualifying. A fourth rider could be chosen via committee after qualifying ends. The U.S. women are so deep that it’s likely two of these three will not make it -- 2006 Olympic champion Hannah Teter, 2017 X Games champion Hight and Sochi Olympian Gold.

Snowboard Slopestyle/Big Air
Qualifying Standings
(through two of five events)
1. Red Gerard -- 1400*
2. Chris Corning -- 1200*
3. Chandler Hunt -- 1160*
4. Kyle Mack -- 1000*
5. Judd Henkes -- 1000

1. Jamie Anderson -- 1800*
2. Julia Marino -- 1600*
3. Hailey Langland -- 1300*
4. Jessika Jenson -- 1050
5. Nora Healey -- 950
*Has automatic qualifying minimum of one top-three result.

Men: The first two qualifiers produced very different results. Gerard won the opener last winter but was 12th last week. Corning was 37th last winter and second last week as the top American. It’s really wide open given no U.S. man has made an X Games Aspen podium in slopestyle or big air since 2012, and Sochi Olympic champion Sage Kotsenburg has retired.

Women: In contrast to the men, the U.S. has three medal contenders. All of them have performed well so far in qualifying. Sochi slopestyle gold medalist Anderson and X Games big air champ Langland went one-two at the first qualifier in February. Marino, the X Games slopestyle champ, was second last week as the top American. It would be a surprise if anybody else snatched one of the three automatic Olympic spots from them.

Ski Halfpipe
Qualifying Standings
(through two of five events)
1. Torin Yater-Wallace — 145*
2. David Wise — 132*
3. Gus Kenworthy — 94*
4. Aaron Blunck — 82
5. Taylor Seaton — 64*

1. Maddie Bowman — 125*
2. Annalisa Drew — 95
3. Brita Sigourney — 90
4. Devin Logan — 81*
5. Carly Margulies — 72
**Has automatic qualifying minimum of two top-three results.
*Has one top-three result.

Men: Sochi gold medalist Wise silenced doubters last week by grabbing his first win in three years, according to TeamUSA.org. Sochi teammate Yater-Wallace came back from life support to win the first qualifier in February. Their victories put the pressure on reigning X Games champion Blunck and Kenworthy, the Sochi slopestyle silver medalist trying to make Pyeongchang in both pipe and slope. Like in snowboard, three automatic berths are available and a committee could put a fourth man on the team via discretionary selection.

Women: Olympic silver medalist Marie Martinod won the first two qualifiers, but she’s French. Sochi champ Bowman was second in February; Logan, the Sochi slopestyle silver medalist, was second last week. The top four in the standings are all Sochi Olympians.

Ski Slopestyle
Qualifying Standings
(through one of five events)
1. Maggie Voisin -- 100*
2. Devin Logan -- 50
3. Darian Stevens -- 45
4. Taylor Lundquist -- 36
5. Keri Herman -- 22
**Has automatic qualifying minimum of two top-three results.
*Has one top-three result.
Dew Tour will be the first men’s ski slopestyle qualifier.

Men: The men weren’t able to overcome poor weather at the first scheduled ski slopestyle qualifier in February. Olympic gold medalist Joss Christensen, who led a U.S. podium sweep in Sochi, remains sidelined from competition after a May 10 ACL and meniscus tear but plans to return for the next qualifier in January. The top American last season was McRae Williams, who missed the Sochi team. Williams won silver at X Games in January and gold at the world championships in March.

Women: Voisin won the first qualifier in February, putting her in strong position to make a second Olympic team. She would have been the youngest U.S. competitor across all sports in Sochi, but Voisin fractured her right fibula in practice the day of the Opening Ceremony. No U.S. woman made the podium at either of the last two X Games, but the two-time reigning X Games champ Kelly Sildaru of Estonia will miss the Olympics due to knee surgery.

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Breckenridge Finals (all times Eastern)
Friday
Men’s Ski Halfpipe -- 11 a.m.-12:15 p.m.
Women’s Ski Halfpipe -- 12:45-1:30 p.m.
Men’s Snowboard Halfpipe -- 2:30-3:45 p.m.
Women’s Snowboard Halfpipe -- 4:15-5 p.m.

Saturday
Women’s Snowboard Slopestyle -- 11-11:45 a.m.
Men’s Snowboard Slopestyle -- 12:15-1:30 p.m.
Men’s Ski Slopestyle -- 2:30-3:45 p.m.
Women’s Ski Slopestyle -- 4:15-5 p.m.

Correction: An earlier version of this post incorrectly stated that Joss Christensen is competing at Breckenridge.