PYEONGCHANG, SOUTH KOREA ¨C Ski jumping legend Noriaki Kasai, competing in his eighth Winter Olympics, placed 20th in the qualifying round of the men¡¯s normal hill jump on Thursday night at the Alpensia Ski Jumping Centre to clinch a spot in Saturday night¡¯s finals.
The 45-year-old, who appeared in his first Winter Games in Albertville, France, in 1992, leaped 98 meters to earn a score of 117.7 points in relatively mild conditions. The Hokkaido native claimed the silver medal in the individual large hill jump four years ago at the Sochi Olympics.
Kasai¡¯s teammates Junshiro Kobayashi, Ryoyu Kobayashi and Daiki Ito also advanced to the finals.
Junshiro Kobayashi had the best jump of the Japan squad with a distance of 101 meters and a score of 118.4 to place 18th.
Ryoyu Kobayashi also recorded a jump of 98 meters, but received a mark of 115.3, and was 21st, while Daiki Ito struggled with a leap of 93.5 and tally of 106.0 and came in 31st.
Fifty of the 57 jumpers from the qualifying round moved into Saturday¡¯s two-round competition.
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