Krasnaya Polyana, Russia (SportsNetwork.com) - Greg Bretz will join American teammates Shaun White and Danny Davis in the final of the men's halfpipe on Tuesday.
American Taylor Gold needed a big score in his second semifinal run but didn't land his last trick and missed the final less than two months after winning a World Cup event at Copper Mountain, Colo.
White, the overwhelming favorite, moved directly into the final with the top qualifying score after the day's first two runs. Davis also went right to the final.
Bretz made it with a score of 83 in his first semifinal run. Switzerland's Iouri Podladtchikov had the top score in the semis, an 87.50 on his first run.
White, 27, will try to become only the fourth athlete to win the same event in three straight Winter Olympics. The first three were women -- speed skaters Bonnie Blair of the U.S. and Claudia Pechstein of Germany and figure skater Sonja Henie of Norway.
He is competing after pulling out of the slopestyle event last week citing a desire to focus on the halfpipe and saying the risk of injury was too great on a slopestyle course seen by some as being potentially dangerous.
White used a daring trick, the Double McTwist 1260, to capture gold at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.
He used a new trick, the frontside double-cork 1440, to win the last qualifier on the day the U.S. Olympic snowboarding team was announced.
