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By Joo Kyung-don
PYEONGCHANG, South Korea, Feb. 8 (Yonhap) -- South Korean ski jumper Choi Se-ou made it out of the qualification round of the men's normal hill individual at the Winter Olympics here on Thursday.
Choi was one of two South Korean contestants competing in the normal hill event at Alpensia Ski Jumping Centre in PyeongChang, Gangwon Province. The 35-year-old finished 39th out of 57 skiers participating in the qualification round with a score of 94.7 points, following his 89-meter jump.
Only the top 50 ski jumpers advance to the next round. However, the top 10 jumpers from this season's World Cup standings qualify automatically for the finals and can skip the qualifying run if they want.
Another South Korean, Kim Hyun-ki, failed to make the cut after ending up in 52nd place with a score of 83.1 points.
Andreas Wellinger of Germany finished atop the qualification round with 133.5 points, followed by defending champion Kamil Stoch of Poland with 131.7 points. Dawid Kubacki, also from Poland, was third with 129.6 points.
The first round of the men's normal hill will take place on Saturday, with the top 30 from that contest entering the final round to compete for medals.
Kim and Choi are both in their sixth Winter Olympics, tied for the most appearances by a South Korean along with former speed skater Lee Kyou-hyuk.
South Korean ski jumper Choi Se-ou soars in the men's normal hill individual qualification round for the 23rd Winter Olympic Games at Alpensia Ski Jumping Centre in PyeongChang, Gangwon Province, on Feb. 8, 2018. (Yonhap)
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