Australian skier Russ Henshaw hasn't had an ideal run into the Winter Olympics but, six months after a serious injury, his preparation is on track with the medal hopeful qualifying for the World Cup ski slopestyle final at New Zealand's Winter Games.
Henshaw, who tore a ligament in his knee when he crashed at the X Games in Aspen six months ago, sailed through the qualification round at Cardrona on Friday finishing second in his heat - without an ACL.
The 23-year-old opted not to have surgery to fix the torn ligament and says, in hindsight, it seems like the right decision.
"It's working fine; it feels completely normal," he told AAP at Cardrona. "I haven't had any problems skiing, no problems jumping - it feels 100 per cent."
A minor shin injury, picked up three days ago, niggled Henshaw during his Winter Games qualification, but that pain didn't show in his runs.
"It's been a bit of a struggle for me because I've got a sore shin at the moment," he said. "But then it all came together for me."
Fellow Australians Boen Ferguson and Jordon Houghton missed out on a spot in the final, with Annabel Blake also failing to qualify in the women's event.
New Zealand favourite Jossi Wells suffered the same fate, crashing on his first run and losing a ski on his second.
Ski slopestyle, which involves skiers taking on a mixture of rails, features and jumps, has never been contested at the Winter Olympic Games. Its introduction has been approved for Sochi in February.
Henshaw says, despite his injury earlier this year, he's 98 per cent sure he's done enough to book his ticket to Russia for the Olympics.
"If I do well here at the finals, I'll be 110 per cent sure," he said.
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