Updated February 18, 2018 01:11:29

Photo: It had been a far from ideal lead-in to these Games for David Morris. (AAP: Dan Himbrechts)

Australian David Morris has progressed to the finals of the men's aerials, claiming a top-12 spot at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.

Forced to go through a repechage after missing automatic qualification in the top six, Morris nailed a clutch second jump on Saturday night — a quad-twisting triple somersault (124.89 points) to go through in the second round in second.

His first jump — a lower-rated variation of the jump (112.83) — looked good in the air but a compressed landing saw him finish the opening qualifying round in ninth.

He then upped the ante with an Olympic spot on the line and delivered.

"It was very stressful. I don't want to do that again," Morris told Channel 7.

"I was just looking at the scores to get into the top six and they were 123 which is a fantastic score to get in. That's a proper competition. It's people doing really good jumps.

"I thought my first score was a little low. But as an athlete I always think my score is a little low, so I always ask for more."

It had been a far from ideal lead-in to these Games for the 33-year-old.

Morris revealed on social media last month that his mother had been battling cancer and he had been torn about whether to push ahead for his third Games.

After consultation he decided to push ahead.

Results-wise he had also struggled, not logging a podium finish during the World Cup season.

But the Sochi silver medallist said he felt confident as one of just four athletes thought to have a quin-twisting triple somersault in his arsenal.

And while not pulling that trick out on Saturday, the noted big event performer — he also took bronze at last year's world championships — had more than enough in his bag to make Sunday's decider.

Jonathon Lillis (127.44) of the United States was the top qualifier from round one, with China's Guangpu Qi (126.7) second and teammate Zongyang Jia (126.55) third.

Sochi gold medallist Anton Kushnir from Belarus surprisingly did not qualify, finishing seventh after the repechage round.

Meanwhile, Australian Deanna Lockett finished sixth in the women's 1500 metre speed skate after earlier coming second in the qualifying round.

AAP

Topics: winter-olympics, sport, korea-republic-of

First posted February 18, 2018 00:49:12