Carlos Garcia Knight Tops Snowboarding Big Air Qualifying at Olympics 2018

The men's big air event at the 2018 Winter Games is down to 12.

Carlos Garcia Knight of New Zealand and Max Parrot of Canada won their respective heats and will lead the competitors into the medal heats Saturday. Garcia Knight had the best score of the day at 97.50, while Parrot won the first heat with a 92.50 score.

The top four scorers overall between the two heats all came in Heat 2. Parrot would have placed fifth in the second heat had his score carried over.

The Canadian has already earned silver in slopestyle. Red Gerard, the 17-year-old American who surprised to win slopestyle gold, was the final qualifier in Heat 1. His score of 85.00 was the lowest of the 12 qualifiers who will make the final round.

"I don't really look at myself as a big air rider, but I was happy to land both runs. That's kind of what I see going into these contests," Gerard said afterward, per Reuters. "I think everyone knew coming into this contest that it's an Olympics so it's going to be the heaviest qualifiers ever. You gotta come out here and do the best tricks you can and see how it goes."

Kyle Mack and Chris Corning also qualified for the United States and will join Gerard in the final heat. 

Jonas Boesiger of Switzerland (96.00) and Mark McMorris of Canada (95.75) finished in second and third place, respectively, in the second heat. 

The big air is making its Olympic debut after becoming a staple of the X Games and World Championships in recent years. 

Heat 1

1. Max Parrot (CAN): 92.50 

2. Niklas Mattsson (SWE): 90.00

3. Kyle Mack (USA): 88.75

4. Chris Corning (USA): 88.00

5. Michael Schaerer (SUI): 87.00

6. Redmond Gerard (USA): 85.00

Heat 2

1. Carlos Garcia Knight (NZL): 97.50

2. Jonas Boesiger (SUI): 96.00

3. Mark McMorris (CAN): 95.75

4. Torgeir Bergrem (NOR): 94.25

5. Sebastien Toutant (CAN): 91.00

6. Billy Morgan (GBR): 90.50