Canada's Read advances to ski-jumping final

Nephew of skiing great Ken Read only Canadian to move ahead

Last Updated: Friday, February 19, 2010 | 2:55 PM ET

By Lindsey Craig, CBC Sports

Swiss ski-jumper and World Cup leader Simon Ammann set a record when he took Olympic gold in the normal hill event on Wednesday. (Javier Soriano/Getty Images)

Stefan Read of Edmonton, Alta., advanced to the final of the large hill ski-jumping event on Friday at Whistler Olympic Park.

Read, nephew of Canadian skiing great Ken Read, moved ahead after placing 36th in the qualifying round with a total score of 102.9.

The final will take place Saturday at 11:30 a.m. PT.

The top 10 jumpers in World Cup standings, including Austria's Wolfgang Loitzl and Gregor Schlierenzauer, Poland's Adam Malysz and leader Simon Ammann of Switzerland, pre-qualified for the final.

Three other Canadians competed Friday but failed to advance.

Toronto's Mackenzie Boyd-Clowes, 18, came in 45th place with a score of 83.8.

Calgary's Trevor Morrice, 18, finished 49th with a score of 73.8.

Calgary's Eric Mitchell, 17, who has no World cup experience, was the first competitor of the contest. He finished in last place with a score of 47.4.

The athletes with the top 40 jump scores advanced to the large hill final.

Women do not compete in ski-jumping at the Olympic level, although they have made several attempts to have the sport included at the Games.