Posted: Feb 13, 8:53p ET | Updated: Feb 13, 9:42p ET
WEST VANCOUVER (AP) -- Last time, Hannah Kearney stood in the stands, helplessly watching Jennifer Heil win the Olympic gold medal.
This time, Kearney gets a chance to win it herself.
Kearney and Heil made it easily through rainy qualifying at women's moguls Saturday -- keeping Heil in the mix to become the first Canadian to win an Olympic gold in her home country, and putting Kearney, the American, in her first Olympic final.
Kearney was the defending world champion at the Turin Games in 2006 when she bobbled coming out of the gate, never got her bearings and finished 22nd -- out of the finals and forced to watch Heil win it all from the bottom.
This time, Kearney finished first, meaning she'll go last when the scores are reset for the finals later Saturday.
"It's a big deal for me," Kearney said of the safe qualifying run that most top skiers take for granted. "Four years ago was devastating, and I had to watch the night finals and didn't get to ski. This means there's one step down, and another to go."
Kearney scored 25.96 points in qualifying to beat Heil by .46. The Canadian came into the Olympics with four straight victories in the World Cup and a very good chance to make some history. No Canadian has won gold at the two previous Olympics up North -- 1976 in Montreal and 1988 in Calgary.
Also advancing were Americans Michelle Roark , Shannon Bahrke and Heather McPhie , Canadians Kristi Richards and Chloe Dufour-LaPointe and Japanese contender Aiko Uemura .
McPhie finished third in qualifying and said she wasn't fazed by the big Canadian crowd looking to see a little slice of history.
"In my opinion I don't think there's such a thing as a home-field advantage," McPhie said. "We're all in the same conditions on the exact same course, and we've all skied a ton. We've skied in rain, we've skied in ice. We're all on the same playing field."
Kearney and Heil finished 1-2 with similar runs, each landing a 360-degree spin and back flip and making it through the moguls smooth and fast.
The rain left a layer of frozen slush on top of the snow, which made for a fast track that should only get quicker for the final.
Heil buzzed off the course and didn't stop for interviews _ the sign of someone with bigger things on her mind.
Kearney is in the same boat, but after the way the last Olympics went, she didn't mind enjoying the moment for a bit.
"It's good, but I've got things to improve on," she said. "It's the second run that counts. We'll try to do it again."
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