Calgarian Stefan Read has ensured Canada's colours are represented on the Whistler Olympic Park long hill ski jump track tomorrow. The 22-year-old son of Ski Jumping Canada high-performance director Ron Read and nephew of alpine skiing great Ken Read soared 120.5 metres in the qualifying round today, securing 36th place and a spot in the final medal round.
Fellow Calgarians Trevor Morrice, Mackenzie Boyd-Clowes and Eric Mitchell also jumped for Canada today, but did not make the required top 40 standing.
The long hill jump top qualifier was Japan's Noriaki Kasai, who jumped 142.5 metres - the longest jump of the day.
Daiki Ito, the second place qualifier also from Japan, secured his position with a jump of 139.5 metres. The third place qualifier was Finland's Matti Hautamaeki who jumped 137.5 metres.
The top 10 jumpers in the World Cup standings, including Austria's Wolfgang Loitzl, Andreas Kofler, Thomas Morgenstern and Gregor Schlierenzauer, automatically qualify for the final.
World Cup leader Simon Ammann of Switzerland won the normal hill gold medal earlier in the Games with a 140-metre jump.
The long hill ski jump final starts at 10 a.m. tomorrow. Read and his teammates return to the long hill ramp Tuesday for the team final.
