Maddie Bowman closer to Olympics with spot in Friday finals in Snowmass

Reigning Olympic gold medalist halfpipe skier Maddie Bowman celebrated both her birthday Wednesday and a ticket to the finals of the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix at Snowmass this weekend.

The 24-year-old South Lake Tahoe native competed against the top eight women half pipe skiers, qualifying easily behind Cassie Sharpe, the 2016 X Games Oslo champion.

While no one has officially locked up an Olympic spot, Maddie Bowman is essentially a sure thing. The 2014 Olympic gold medalist already has met the objective criteria with two podiums — she was second at Mammoth and third at Dew Tour — and only needs to finish runner-up in Snowmass to lock it in.

Friday's finals start in Snowmass at 1:00 p.m.

Another local Olympian, Jamie Anderson, has already qualified for a trip to another Olympics. She won gold in Sochi in 2014 in snowboard slopestyle, the first year the games carried that event.

Local snowboarder Hannah Teter is vying for her fourth straight Olympic games. She won gold at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Women's halfpipe. She is trying to qualify as well, along with another local snowboarder, Elena Hight. Both Teter and Hight missed the finals at Snowmass.

Remaining Olympic qualifying events for Snowboarders:

January 17-20, 2018 – Mammoth Mountain, CA – Halfpipe and Slopestyle