OUT OF THE GATE
SkiRacing.com
FEBRUARY 7, 2011 |
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MIKE RIDE WOOD/CANADIAN FREEST YLE SKI ASSOCIATION After Quebec competitions, Lake Placid sees back-to-back wins by Hannah Kearney and Guilbert Colas and a first victory for Ashley Caldwell BY ERIC WILLIAMS Eastern Air Lines It was a long holiday break for the World Cup’s moguls skier and aerialists. They last competed in Beida Lake, China, in mid-Decem- ber. Almost a month later they landed in Mont Gabriel, Quebec, to kick off a North American swing that will conclude in Deer Valley a
t
he World Championships. The fight for coveted World Champs spot
s
pilled over into Lake Placid as North Americans ruled the results. Mont Gabriel, Dual Moguls, Jan. 15 Canadian skiers claimed four of six podium spots, including both wins. Alexandre Bilodeau and Justine Dufour-Lapointe battled through fou
r
ounds of competition to hoist the maple-leaf-stamped flag. Bilodeau, who at the Vancouver Games became the first Canadian to win an Olympic gold medal at home, secured his first World Cu
p
odium of the season by outlasting teammate Mikael Kingsbury, who at just 18 years old earned his third World Cup podium of the sea- son. The overall World Cup leader, France’s Guilbaut Colas, finished third. American Jeremy Cota finished fourth for a new career high, but he wasn’t done climbing yet. U.S. men packed the top 10 as defending world champion Patrick Deneen, Olympic bronze medalist Bryon Wilson and Sho Kashima finished fifth, seventh and eight, respectively. On the women’s side, Dufour-Lapointe beat Russian skier Anastas- sia Gunchenko in the final for her first career win. Canadian Olympic silver medalist and five-time overall titleholder Jennifer Heil (who an- nounced her impending retirement at the end of January) rounded out the podium in third after besting Justine’s older sister Chloé in the consolation round. “I’m really stoked, I’m more than happy,” said 20-year-old Justine Dufour-Lapointe. “I can’t believe that I won my first World Cup here in Mont Gabriel and in my home country for only my third competition on the World Cup circuit.” Eliza Outtrim led the American women in seventh followed by Olym- pic gold medalist Hannah Kearney, who after qualifying second had an uncharacteristic mistake in the first round of the finals and fin- ished ninth. Mont Gabriel Aerials, Jan. 16 In aerials, defending overall titleholder Anton Kushnir of Belarus and World Championships silver medalist Xu Mengtao of China took the wins. Xu had a winning score of 192.28 to beat Belarusian Alla Tsuper in second with 187 points. China’s Cheng Shuang rounded out the podium in third with a score of 186.99 ahead of Emily Cook, who led the U.S. team in fourth with a score of 174.6. It was Cook’s best World Cup result since finishing third in Deer Valley in January 2009. Ashley Caldwell finished 10th at her fourth World Cup appearance. Canadian Sabrina Guerin led the home team in fifth — a career high. Teammates Stephanie Pratte and Crystal Lee finished 17th and 19th, respectively. Kushnir took the men’s contest with a 6.63-point advantage over China’s Qi Guangpu in second. The Ukraine’s Stanislav Kravchuk finished third with a score of 234.60. Another American took the fourth position as defending World Champion Ryan St. Onge pulled in a score of 233.22 to record his best World Cup result since winning in Moscow in 2009. It was Kushnir’s sixth career World Cup victory. American Scotty Bahrke earned his seventh career World Cup top- 10 result in seventh. Teammate Dylan Ferguson also cracked the top 10 in ninth.
Ashley Caldwell was a World
Cup winner in Lake Placid.
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