Freestyle Skiing 101: Competition format

Each event discipline on the Beijing Winter Olympic freestyle skiing program is unique. Some include busting out tricks for points while others entail racing.

Moguls

The Olympic format for moguls consists of two rounds of qualifications and three rounds of knockout-style finals. Each round consists of just one jump per athlete. 

In the qualification round, each athlete completes one or two runs. All 30 skiers complete the first run (Qualification Round 1) and are then ranked according to their scores; the top 10 skiers advance directly to the final. The remaining 20 skiers complete a second run (Qualification Round 2), then are ranked again — each athlete's single best score from either Qualification Round 1 or Round 2 is used; the top 10 skiers after the second run advance, for a total of 20 skiers in the final. Start order for qualifications is determined by a random draw. Qualification Round 2 will use the same start list as Round 1, except that any skiers who qualified directly out of Round 1 will be omitted.

In Final Round 1, the 20 athletes will complete one run, and the top 12 scores advance. In Final Round 2, the 12 athletes will complete one run, and the top six scores advance to Final Round 3, also known as the "super final." The results of the super final will determine all three medal winners. Scores never carry over from one round to the next. 

In Final Round 1, the start order is the reverse order of rank from the qualification runs: The 10 athletes who qualified from Qualification Round 2 will go first (20-11), followed by the athletes who qualified directly from Qualification Round 1 (10-1). In the remaining final rounds, competitors ski in the reverse order of their finish in the previous round, i.e., the athlete with the lowest score goes first and the athlete with the best score goes last.

Aerials

The Olympic format for aerials consists of two rounds of qualifications and three rounds of knockout-style finals. Each round consists of just one jump per athlete. 

In the qualification round, each athlete completes one or two runs. All 25 skiers complete the first run (Qualification Round 1) and are then ranked according to their scores; the top six skiers advance directly to the final. The remaining 19 skiers complete a second run (Qualification Round 2), then are ranked again — each athlete's single best score from either Qualification Round 1 or Round 2 is used; the top six skiers after the second run advance, for a total of 12 skiers in the final. Start order for qualifications is determined by a random draw. Qualification Round 2 will use the same start list as Round 1, except that any skiers who qualified directly out of Round 1 will be omitted.

In Final Round 1, the 12 athletes will complete one run, and the top nine scores advance. In Final Round 2, the nine athletes will complete one run, and the top six scores advance to Final Round 3, also known as the "super final." The results of the super final will determine all three medal winners. Scores never carry over from one round to the next. 

In Final Round 1, the start order is the reverse order of rank from the qualification runs: The six athletes who qualified from Qualification Round 2 will go first (12-7), followed by the athletes who qualified directly from Qualification Round 1 (6-1). In the remaining final rounds, competitors ski in the reverse order of their finish in the previous round, i.e., the athlete with the lowest score goes first and the athlete with the best score goes last.

Mixed Team Aerials

The format for mixed team aerials consists of two finals.

Ski Cross

The competition format for men’s and women’s ski cross consists of two portions: seeding runs and elimination rounds. 

Each skier takes just one seeding run, and the top times determine the seeding for the final brackets. Since there are only 32 athletes in each of the men’s and women’s events, all athletes qualify for the elimination rounds. 

In the elimination rounds, competitors are divided into heats, each consisting of four skiers. Each skier wears a bib color that corresponds to their seeding run ranking. The top skier in the heat wears a red bib, No. 2 a green bib, No. 3 a blue bib and No. 4 a yellow bib. Based on their bib colors, skiers choose which of the four starting gates they will use in the heat, i.e., the skier with the red bib gets first pick, followed by the skier in the green bib, and so on.

The eliminations start with the Round of 32. There will be eight heats of four skiers, divided up so that higher seeds will not be able to meet until later rounds. The top two skiers from each of the eight heats, 16 total, advance to the quarterfinals. The third and fourth place skiers from each heat are ranked from 17th to 32nd according to A) their finish in the heat and B) their seeding results. 

The top two skiers from each quarterfinal, eight total, advance to the semifinal heats, and the top two skiers from each semifinal heat, four total, advance to the final, which determines first through fourth place. The skiers ranked third and fourth in the semifinals, four total, are relegated to the small final to determine fifth through eighth place. 

If two or more skiers appear to cross the finish line at the same time, the official results will be determined after examining the photo finish to see the first part of the body – skis and equipment do not count – that crossed the finish line. 

In a case where more than one competitor does not complete the course nor cross the finish line, the rankings in that heat will be based on the location where the competitor(s) have completed the course. Whichever skier passed more gates further down the course will be ranked higher. 

Slopestyle

The Olympic ski slopestyle competition consists of a qualification round and a final round. 

The qualification round, which will include 30 skiers in both the men’s and women’s competitions, will consist of two runs, with each competitor’s best single run counting. The top 12 skiers from the qualification round will advance to the final. Scores from the qualification round do not carry over to the final.

The final will consist of three runs. Again in the final, only each competitor's best score will count towards the final results. The start order for all three runs will be the inverse of the results from the qualification round, i.e., the athlete with the lowest score in qualifying goes first and the athlete with the best score goes last.

Halfpipe

The Olympic ski halfpipe competition consists of a qualification round and a final round. 

The qualification round, which will include 25 skiers in both the men’s and women's competitions, will consist of two runs, with each competitor’s best single run counting. The top 12 skiers from the qualification round will advance to the final. Scores from the qualification round do not carry over to the final.

The final will consist of three runs. Again in the final, only each competitor's best score will count towards the final results. The start order for all three runs will be the inverse of the results from the qualification round, i.e., the athlete with the lowest score in qualifying goes first and the athlete with the best score goes last.

Big Air

The Olympic big air competition consists of a qualification round and a final round.

The qualification round will consist of three runs, with each competitor’s best single run counting. The top 12 riders from the qualification round will advance to the final. If the organizers choose to divide the qualification field into two separate heats, then the top six riders from each heat will advance to the final. Scores from the qualification round do not carry over to the final. 

The final will consist of three runs. The start order will be the inverse of the results from the qualification round, i.e., the athlete with the lowest score in qualifying goes first and the athlete with the best score goes last.

The scores from each competitor's two best runs will be added together to get the final results, and athletes must spin their tricks in different directions on those two runs. For example, if a rider spins a frontside rotation on one of those runs, they will need to spin a backside, switch frontside or switch backside rotation on the other run. If a rider performs the same rotation more than once, then only the highest score will be counted.