MISSOULA — Helena's Konnor Ralph has qualified for the final in the men's freeski slopestyle at the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics.
Ralph, 23, made his Olympic debut Saturday, scoring a 68.91 at Livigno Snow Park in Italy to place 10th out of 29 competitors. The top 12 qualified for the final, which will run Tuesday.
Ralph had two runs in the qualifying round, with his first the better of the two. The course is broken up into six sections where skiers perform a combination of jumps, rails and tricks. Ralph's scores in each section ranged from a 5.65 in the fourth section to an 8.00 in the third. He totaled 39.05 points in sections with a composition score of 29.86 for his 68.91 total.
Norway's Birk Ruud earned the top qualifying spot with an 81.75 score — 47.35 section and 34.40 composition.
Tormod Forstad, also of Norway, finished second in qualifying with a 79.96, and Sweden's Jesper Tjader was third with a 79.83.
Ralph will be joined in Tuesday's final by fellow Americans Mac Forehand, who placed sixth with a 74.46, and Alex Hall, who was eighth with a 71.63. Hall is the reigning gold medalist in the event.
Ralph, who will also compete in the men's freeski big air qualifying round on Feb. 15, is one of two Montanans participating in this year's Winter Olympic Games. Whitefish's Jake Sanderson is a member of Team USA's men's hockey squad, which will begin pool play versus Latvia on Feb. 12.
