China's Gu Ailing qualified for the women's freestyle skiing halfpipe event in first place on Thursday, as she chases a third medal at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.

Gu took the lead after the first jump, scoring 93.75 points but topped that in the second jump with 95.50 points.

Canada's Rachael Karker came second, with Kelly Sildaru of Estonia – who won bronze in the women's slopestyle on Tuesday – finishing third.

Zhang Kexin and Li Fanghui of Team China also qualified for the halfpipe final which will take place on Friday morning at Genting Snow Park in Zhangjiakou, north China.

Teenage superstar Gu already won gold in big air and silver in slopestyle at the Beijing Olympics. She goes into the halfpipe event as the favorite, as the reigning world champion and leader in overall park and pipe World Cup standings.

(Reporting from Zhangjiakou)

Read more: China's Gu Ailing wins women's freeski slopestyle silver at Beijing 2022