Olympics Live: Chloe Kim cruises through first halfpipe run

BEIJING (AP) — The Latest on the Beijing Winter Olympics:

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Defending Olympic champion snowboarder Chloe Kim cruised through the halfpipe on her first run.

She scored 87.75, good enough for the top spot in women’s qualifying Wednesday at Genting Snow Park.

The 21-year-old from California turned it up a notch in run No. 2, but fell on her switch backside 720. She raised her hand as if to say, “Oh well.” She playfully stuck out her tongue while waiting for her score.

Mitsuki Ono of Japan was second in qualifying. This a day after appearing to be bothered by a hip ailment in training and in some discomfort. Cai Xuetong of China had the third-best score in qualifying, with Queralt Castellet of Spain also in the mix.

The biggest surprise was the performance of American Maddie Mastro, who finished just outside of the top-12 that advanced to Thursday’s final. She was in the last spot but was bumped out by one of the final riders, Elizabeth Hosking of Canada.

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Lena Dürr is leading the women’s slalom at the Beijing Games after two-time Olympic champion Mikaela Shiffrin saw another race end early.

Shiffrin skidded out of control about five seconds into the opening run of Wednesday’s slalom. The 26-year-old American also fell early in the first run of Monday’s giant slalom.

Dürr led from the start as she was first down the course know as the Ice River. The German skier posted a time of 52.17 seconds, 0.03 quicker than Michelle Gisin of Switzerland.

Giant slalom gold medalist Sara Hector of Sweden is 0.12 behind Dürr.

Dürr’s highest individual finish at a major championship is 11th at the worlds in 2019. She has never won a World Cup slalom race.

The 30-year-old is likely to head into the second run in the lead with only