However, Great Britain's Liam Richards is officially out of contention for the final. He is currently down in 16th with his second run score of 61.00.

The 18-year-old, who is competing in his first-ever Winter Olympics, wasn't expected to progress to the finals and can be super pleased with his two runs this morning.

For those of you wondering - and I know there will be plenty of you - Great Britain's Gus Kenworthy is still firmly within the qualification places.

His 81.25 first-run score is enough for ninth place at the minute, with just four athletes to come.

I can confirm China's Haipeng Sheng has been reunited with his phone.

He even seems to be checking its condition, let's hope it landed screen-side up!

He also improves his first run score of 50.75 to 54.75 - but it is only enough to see him move up to 18th place.

Image source, Getty Images

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it is Chinese skier Haipeng Sheng's phone!

It isn't the first time we've seen that happen on the slopes at these Games, with a snowboard athlete in the big air event suffering from the same malfunction.

Image source, Reuters

Oh wow! Ireland's Benjamin Lynch jumps into 11th place!

The 23-year-old is kept waiting by the judges for his second run score, but boy was it worth it!

He improves his first run score of 57.00 to 75.75 after ramping up the amplitude, putting more tricks into his run and executing his grabs.

He is jumping for joy - and so he should be!

Ski and snowboard judge Tori Beattie: We hope not.

AI tools will hopefully come in to assist judges for video recognition software and digital steganographs because we take notes and every time we look down to take notes, we're looking away from the performances.

So, hopefully AI won't be putting out scores and making assessments but will be assisting the human judges.

Ed Leigh
Snowboarding and freestyle skiing commentator on BBC One

Image source, Getty Images

We say this for all the athletes, all they want to be able to do is show their best, and that's exactly what Liam's done there. He had a pristine run.

He can be really, really proud of that.

Image source, Getty Images

Great Britain's Liam Richards misses out on the men's freeski halfpipe final in his first-ever Winter Olympics.

The 18-year-old executed some tidy tricks throughout, including a tail-grab 900 and a 1260, but his amplitude just wasn't enough to pull him over the line.

He improves his first run score of 54.50 to 61.00, but it is only enough to move into 13th place.

Image source, Getty Images

Each of the entrants initially performs a solo timed run to decide their seeding - that happened a little earlier - after which it is essentially a straight knockout competition.

The top seeds are placed at opposite ends of the draw for the knockout stage, while the highest-ranked skier in each race gets to choose their starting gate.

The competition continues with four skiers per race. The top two in each race qualify for the next round. Up to and including the semi-finals, any ties are settled in favour of the athlete with the better seeding – as denoted by bib number.

The four successful semi-finalists compete for the medals in the ‘big final’. Any athletes who can’t be separated by a photo finish (first body part across the line) will be awarded the same colour medal.

Luke Harrold's second run started with so much promise with back-to-back double alley-oops, but the 17-year-old suddenly loses one of his skis!

The landing was heavy and his equipment just couldn't sustain the impact. He fails to improve on his 65.50 first run, just about holding on to 12th position.

Disappointment for New Zealand!

Image source, Getty Images

The exciting sport of ski cross involves plenty of drama and the last Olympics was no exception, as Switzerland's Fanny Smith well knows.

She was demoted from bronze in the aftermath of her race, only for the decision to eventually be overturned – she received her medal more than a year later.

Now the reigning world champion, Smith again faces Sweden's Sandra Naeslund and Canada's Marielle Thompson, the gold and silver medallists from Beijing.

The 1/8 finals are just about to begin...

Image source, Reuters

We have our 12 finalists now, the top six were confirmed after the first run, and we now know the half dozen who will join them.

The best of the two jumps was taken and an incredible jump from China's Li Tianma - with the highest difficulty we've seen at these Games so far - gives him a massive 127.50, the top score in either round of jumps.

His team-mate Sun Jiaxu also stepped things up to progress with a score of 118.55.

Canada's Emile Nadeau's 112.67 was also enough to qualify, USA's Derek Krueger is also through despite not improving on his first jump and his fellow American Christopher Lillis joins him after a 111.76.

Switzerland's Noe Roth improved slightly to a 111.06 and he was made to sweat watching the last competitors but sneaks through in 12th.

The final, which is split into two parts, begins at 12:30 GMT.

Canada's Brendan Mackay is pulling out all the stops!

He lands a huge alley-oop 540 and stumps the landing to improve his score to 92.75 and claim top spot.

Some athletes have looked happy to just go through the motions in their second runs, but that isn't Mackay's style!

Ed Leigh
Snowboarding and freestyle skiing commentator on BBC One

Image source, Getty Images

A big, big second run there from Gus. But it was at the expense of execution.

It is clean though - the technicality was there it's just execution knocked him down.

Great Britain's Gus Kenworthy will have to settle for his first run score of 81.25 after failing to improve it in his second run.

There's no question when it comes to technicality, as he executed some stunning 14s, but his execution needs a touch of work.

You wouldn't know the former Olympic slopestyle silver medallist is the oldest competitor in the field though!

Image source, Getty Images

USA's Hunter Hess posts an improved score of 85.00 in his second run to ensure he moves back into fourth after being knocked down to sixth for a couple of moments.

He failed to qualify for the 2022 Beijing Games after tearing his knee ligaments, so will be hoping to medal this time around!

Here comes USA's Alex Ferriera with another solid run.

He knows his first run is enough to see him through, but he makes sure his integrity is still there as he goes through the motions in his second run.

If anything, it is a good opportunity to get another feel of the halfpipe before tonight's final!

Image source, PA Media

Canada's Andrew Longino nods his head as he improves his first run score of 80.00 with a second run score of 83.50.

That most definitely will see him through to the final, bumping USA's Hunter Hess down into sixth before his second run.

Things are back under way at Livigno Snow Park now.

Nick Goepper is next to take to the halfpipe after a strong opening run.

He knows his place in the final is sealed and purely goes through the motions in his second run, completing his signature switch alley-oop nine to finish.

He finishes with an unimproved score of 90.00.

Katie Falkingham
BBC Sport in Livigno

For some reason, they don’t seem to be allowing the New Zealand team medic on to the pipe.

The Canadian medic was allowed last night when Cassie Sharpe crashed in women’s qualifying.