• 'It's amazing, I can't explain it' says Briton
• Compatriot Billy Morgan makes semi-finals
Jamie Nicholls gave Great Britain a tremendous start to the Winter Olympics after surprisingly booking his place in the finals of the debuting snowboard slopestyle event, although his compatriot Billy Morgan agonisingly missed out.
Of the two, Morgan was thought to be the greater medal prospect, but Nicholls rose to the occasion at the Rosa Khutor Extreme Park in his first Olympics, scoring 86.75 on his second run to finish fourth and move automatically into Saturday's showpiece.
Morgan, who became the first person to compete at these Games after he was the first rider in the opening qualifying heat, can feel a little hard done by following a score of 85.50, but he will get another chance to impress in Saturday's semi-finals.
Norway's Staale Sandbech topped the heat with an impressive 94.50, while Finland's Peetu Piiroinen and Canada's Sebastien Toutant also made it through.
Nicholls, who only scored 62.25 in his first run, joined them with a more daring second routine and he was thrilled.
"It's amazing, I can't explain it. I literally came here and all I wanted to do was land my run," he said. "Landing a run and getting to the finals is a dream come true."
The competitors were boosted by the news that Shaun White had pulled out of the event less than 24 hours before Thursday's qualifiers, with the American instead turning his attention to winning a third Olympic halfpipe title.
Nicholls fully capitalised on his friend's absence and incorporated a new "Cab" move – a switch-frontside spin – in a bid to lift his score.
"I've literally never landed that before, it's a new trick for me," he said.
"I've done it in training once last year and I kind of sketched out on it, so to do it in the contest run and put it down like that is just amazing.
"To be able to go up there and do a run that I've never done in my life, it just shows the standard is pretty high."
The 20-year-old has no intention of playing it safe in the final, either.
"Now I'm in the finals I've just got to go all out, 100%, so I'm just going to go for it and see what happens," he added.
"I still feel I can step up my run too, even more than what I did today.
"I'm looking forward to finals on Saturday. I'm just happy that I made it, I'm not bothered any more."
Morgan was pleased with his second run but admitted being the first man out of the gate could have proved his undoing.
"I messed my first run up, but I was stoked to go down on my second run," he said.
"It is a bit of a disadvantage as I don't get to see what everyone has done. I couldn't really have done any better – maybe I could have cleaned it up a bit. But hopefully I'll get to the final." Reported by guardian.co.uk 19 hours ago.
• Compatriot Billy Morgan makes semi-finals
Jamie Nicholls gave Great Britain a tremendous start to the Winter Olympics after surprisingly booking his place in the finals of the debuting snowboard slopestyle event, although his compatriot Billy Morgan agonisingly missed out.
Of the two, Morgan was thought to be the greater medal prospect, but Nicholls rose to the occasion at the Rosa Khutor Extreme Park in his first Olympics, scoring 86.75 on his second run to finish fourth and move automatically into Saturday's showpiece.
Morgan, who became the first person to compete at these Games after he was the first rider in the opening qualifying heat, can feel a little hard done by following a score of 85.50, but he will get another chance to impress in Saturday's semi-finals.
Norway's Staale Sandbech topped the heat with an impressive 94.50, while Finland's Peetu Piiroinen and Canada's Sebastien Toutant also made it through.
Nicholls, who only scored 62.25 in his first run, joined them with a more daring second routine and he was thrilled.
"It's amazing, I can't explain it. I literally came here and all I wanted to do was land my run," he said. "Landing a run and getting to the finals is a dream come true."
The competitors were boosted by the news that Shaun White had pulled out of the event less than 24 hours before Thursday's qualifiers, with the American instead turning his attention to winning a third Olympic halfpipe title.
Nicholls fully capitalised on his friend's absence and incorporated a new "Cab" move – a switch-frontside spin – in a bid to lift his score.
"I've literally never landed that before, it's a new trick for me," he said.
"I've done it in training once last year and I kind of sketched out on it, so to do it in the contest run and put it down like that is just amazing.
"To be able to go up there and do a run that I've never done in my life, it just shows the standard is pretty high."
The 20-year-old has no intention of playing it safe in the final, either.
"Now I'm in the finals I've just got to go all out, 100%, so I'm just going to go for it and see what happens," he added.
"I still feel I can step up my run too, even more than what I did today.
"I'm looking forward to finals on Saturday. I'm just happy that I made it, I'm not bothered any more."
Morgan was pleased with his second run but admitted being the first man out of the gate could have proved his undoing.
"I messed my first run up, but I was stoked to go down on my second run," he said.
"It is a bit of a disadvantage as I don't get to see what everyone has done. I couldn't really have done any better – maybe I could have cleaned it up a bit. But hopefully I'll get to the final." Reported by guardian.co.uk 19 hours ago.