KETCHUM, Idaho — Hailey, Idaho, native Chase Josey competed for Team USA in the men's snowboard halfpipe finals at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics in primetime on NBC. He ultimately placed seventh with his best score on his third run, a 79.50.
To cheer on their hometown standout, local friends, alumni of the Sun Valley Snowboard team, and community school, along with other supportive community members, hosted a watch party for Josey at Apples Bar & Grill in Ketchum.
After an opening run in which a miscue put him in 23rd place, Josey pulled off some tricky combinations on his second run to score 69.50 in Tuesday's qualifying round and advance into Thursday's finals.
2022 marks Josey's second Winter Olympics appearance. The Hailey native finished in sixth place in the halfpipe at the Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang in 2018.
Josey graduated from the Sun Valley Community School in 2013 and was born and raised in Hailey with parents Bill and Kris, and his brother Tanner.
Two years out of high school, Josey participated in the Snowboard World Championships in 2015. He also participated in the championships in 2019 and 2021, finishing in fifth place in the halfpipe last year.
Snowboarding star Shaun White also competed in Thursday night's event. It was White's Olympic finale after he fell on his first run in qualifying, but rebounded on his next run to avoid elimination.
Josey is not the only Gem State athlete who competed or will compete in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics Thursday night and Friday morning.
Sun Valley native Hilary Knight and the U.S. Women's Ice Hockey Team are set to take on the Czech Republic in the quarterfinals at 9:10 p.m. Thursday. The livestream can be viewed here.
In the Skeleton, Meridian native Andrew Blaser will compete Friday, Feb. 11 in Heat 3 starting at 5:20 a.m. MT. Heat 4 starts at 6:55 a.m. MT. and is televised on USA starting at 6 a.m. Portions of this event also will be rebroadcast at about 6:40 p.m. during NBC's primetime coverage on KTVB channel 7.
Cross country skiing's 15km classic beginning at 12 a.m. Friday, Feb. 11 (livestream) with feature Scott Patterson - who was born in McCall. Patterson will wear bib number 27 and the event will be televised live on USA at 12 a.m. and on a delayed basis on KTVB as part of NBC's daytime Olympics coverage, which starts at 12 p.m.
Watch more Sports:
See all of our sports coverage in our YouTube playlist: