Men's Aerials Olympics 2014: Final Qualifying Score Results and Recap

The men's freestyle skiing aerials event has been one of the most exciting events on the Winter Olympic program since its addition in 1994, and viewers were reminded why during the qualification round on Monday in Sochi, Russia.      

The field appears to be wide open in terms of reaching the podium at the 2014 Winter Olympics, but Zongyang Jia of China and David Morris of Australia have to be considered the top contenders after topping the qualifying list, according to Sochi on Ten's official Twitter account:

A different country has captured gold in this event at each Olympics in which it has been contested, and qualifying suggests that the trend could potentially continue.

Qualifying was somewhat unique this year as the top six scorers through one jump automatically advanced to the finals. Here is a full rundown of how the first round played out:

Rank	Name	Country	Score	Status
1	Jia Zongyang	China	118.59	Q
2	David Morris	Australia	118.59	Q
3	Renato Ulrich	Switzerland	115.84	Q
4	Guangpu Qi	China	113.57	Q
5	Chao Wu	China	110.62	Q
6	Oleksandr Abramenko	Ukraine	109.50	Q
7	Anton Kushnir	Belarus	107.52
8	Dmitri Dashinski	Belarus	106.64
9	Pavel Krotov	Russia	106.33
10	Ilya Burov	Russia	105.88
11	Mac Bohonnon	USA	104.79
12	Mykola Puzderko	Ukraine	98.41
13	Thomas Lambert	Switzerland	96.83
14	Mischa Gasser	Switzerland	96.52
15	Timofei Slivets	Russia	87.33
16	Sergei Berestovskiy	Kazakhstan	82.84
17	Denis Osipau	Belarus	81.86
18	Zhongqing Liu	China	80.09
19	Travis Gerrits	Canada	76.92
20	Alexei Grishin	Belarus	76.82
21	Baglan Inkarbek	Kazakhstan	60.16

After that, the remaining aerialists who had failed to qualify the first time around were given an additional jump. The top six from that round also advanced to finals, leaving 12 competitors to compete for gold. The second qualifying run finished as follows:

Rank	Name	Country	Score	Status
1	Dmitri Dashinski	Belarus	117.19	Q
2	Anton Kushnir	Belarus	115.38	Q
3	Pavel Krotov	Russia	115.05	Q
4	Travis Gerrits	Canada	112.39	Q
5	Denis Osipau	Belarus	111.05	Q
6	Mac Bohonnon	USA	110.18	Q
7	Timofei Slivets	Russia	108.41
8	Thomas Lambert	Switzerland	89.38
9	Alexei Grishin	Belarus	88.94
10	Ilya Burov	Russia	86.73
11	Sergei Berestovskiy	Kazakhstan	85.30
12	Mischa Gasser	Switzerland	83.91
13	Baglan Inkarbek	Kazakhstan	79.31
14	Mykola Puzderko	Ukraine	77.88
15	Zhongqing Liu	China	77.83

Along with the qualifying results themselves, there were plenty of interesting men's aerials subplots that set the stage for the finals. Here are the biggest storylines that dominated the action on Monday.

World No. 1 Zhongqing Liu Crashes Out

Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

Although the prevailing thought heading into Sochi was that any number of aerialists could reach the podium, China's Zhongqing Liu was viewed as the favorite. Liu is the No. 1 aerials athlete in the world, and he tops the World Cup standings by a considerable margin. None of that mattered on Monday, though, as Liu failed to make it out of qualifying in shocking fashion.

It was mildly surprising to see him struggle in the first round of qualifying, but there wasn't much panic since he had another opportunity waiting. Rather than being conservative, he went for the gusto with a back full-full-double full. Had he landed it, he likely would have topped the second qualifying run.

Liu landed on his back, though, and the defending Olympic bronze medalist was eliminated from contention, per the Australian Olympic Team on Twitter:

Although Liu will go home without a medal, this could still be a hugely successful event for China. Three Chinese aerialists finished among the top 12 and are heading to the finals, including world No. 2 Guangpu Qi. A Chinese podium sweep was viewed as a possibility, and while it may still happen, China's best aerialist won't be part of it.

American Mac Bohonnon Sneaks into Finals

Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

The United States entered men's aerials with just one opportunity to make some noise, and Olympic debutante Mac Bohonnon did precisely that. The 18-year-old native of New Haven, Conn., who was named the World Cup rookie of the year this past season, kept Team USA's medal hopes alive by reaching the aerials finals.

After a conservative jump in the first qualifying round, Bohonnon had to come through with a big effort to advance in the second. He was very much on the bubble as he clung to the sixth and final qualification spot with two skiers remaining. Neither was able to top his score of 110.18 by virtue of a back full-double full-full, so he was able to capture the 12th and final spot in the medal round, according to Skyler Wilder of NBCOlympics.com.

Despite being the only American in the field, Bohonnon didn't put any added pressure on himself entering the Olympics, per Graham Mirmina of the New Haven Register.

"

I'm only 18. Most athletes I am competing against are five, 10 years older than I am. My ultimate goal is to win an Olympic gold medal and become a world champion, but if that doesn't happen this year, I'll keep training for the next four years in hopes of competing in the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea.

"

Now that Bohonnon is in position to steal a medal, though, one can only assume that he will leave caution to the wind and go for broke.

Bohonnon was fairly conservative during qualifying, but since there are no real expectations for him to reach the podium in Sochi, he would be wise to pull out the very best jumps he has to offer. There is no difference between finishing fourth and finishing 12th, which makes conservatism a poor strategy.

With that said, Bohonnon is way ahead of his development curve, so a medal is unlikely, but this experience will at least put him in great position with an eye toward 2018.

Defending Gold Medalist Fails to Qualify

Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

Belarus has been one of the most successful nations in the world in terms of aerials over the past few Olympics, and it took a huge step forward at the 2010 Vancouver Games when Alexei Grishin won a gold medal. At 34 years of age, Grishin was looking to repeat, but a pair of uncharacteristic mistakes forced Grishin out of the competition early and ensured a new champion.

Grishin finished 20th of the 21 aerialists in the first round of qualifying due to a tough landing. With a score of just 76.82, it was immediately apparent that Grishin would need to come through with a big effort in his second attempt. Unfortunately for him, things didn't work out. The back full-double full-full is one of the toughest jumps in aerials, and Grishin found that out first hand with another disastrous landing.

Despite the fact that Grishin will be 38 when the 2018 Winter Games roll around, Jason Stahl of NBCOlympics.com speculated that Grishin may try to hang on long enough to compete in Pyeongchang, South Korea:

Even if this is the end of the line for Grishin from an Olympic perspective, nobody can ever take his 2010 gold medal win away from him. Even so, he has to be sorely disappointed with his result in Sochi.