Alessandro Barbieri, 17, Leads Americans Into Halfpipe Finals Day

When NBC’s, in-studio host Rebecca Lowe teased a transition to the men’s halfpipe qualification coverage, she mispronounced Alessandro Barbieri’s last name as Bar-Bee-er-oh.

After his performance today, that will probably be the last time that happens.

The 17-year-old son of Italian immigrants put down a run that consisted of a backside double cork 1280, a frontside 1280, and a Cab double cork 1440 in his first Olympic run ever. It got him a score of 88.50, and he’d finish the first round in third place. Barbieri will head into finals day in fourth place, ahead of some of the most renown names in snowboarding, like Ayumu Hirano and Valentino Guseli.

Barbieri is just one of three American riders that will compete on finals day. Sun Valley, Idaho’s own Chase Josey and Colorado’s Jake Pates both squeaked in the 11th and 12th spots.

The two were forced to wait at the bottom of the pipe together and watch rider after rider drop. When Louie Vito – who finished in fifth place for Team USA in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics – dropped fell on a 1280 attempt, their future was solidified: the two would ride again on Friday.

Scotty James finished atop the leaderboard on Wednesday with a score of 94. He pulled out a switch backside double cork 1440 Japan on his fourth hit of his first run. On the first hit of his second run, he laid down a Cab triple cork 1440, but fell on his second hit for a Did Not Improve.

Japan’s Yuto Totsuka finished qualification in second place. He upped his first run's score of 85.50 to a 91.25, thanks to a run that included a Cab double cork 1440.

Here’s the leaderboard going into Thursday’s finals day:

1. Scotty James – Australia
2. Yuto Totsuka – Japan
3. Ryusei Yamada – Japan
4. Alessandro Barbieri – USA
5. Ruka Hirano – Japan
6. Valentino Guseli – Australia
7. Ayumu Hirano – Japan
8. Campbell Melville Ives – New Zealand
9. Chaeun Lee – South Korea
10.  Ziyang Wang – China
11. Chase Josey – USA
12. Jake Pates – USA

The Men’s Halfpipe final will be on Friday at 1:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.