Best Rivalry:
Hannah Kearney
and Jennifer
Heil, Women’s
Moguls
The leading women’s
moguls duo of American
Hannah Kearney and
Canadian Jennifer Heil
have turned the World
Cup podium into their
private seesaw over
the last five years. The
rivalry caught the public
eye a year ago at the
Vancouver Games when
Kearney upset a nation,
robbing Heil of the
chance to become the
first Canadian to win an Olympic gold medal at home.
This time, only a week after she announced that she would
retire at the end of the season, it was Heil’s chance to rob
the home gold. In Vancouver, Kearney was the last woman
down the course. At Deer Valley, the site of Heil’s Olympic
berth in 2002, the Canadian had the last say and put the
finishing touches on a “grand slam” of freestyle titles (Olympic
champion; world champion single moguls; world champion
dual moguls; World Cup mogul champion; World Cup overall
freestyle champion; and FIS Rookie of the Year).
Kearney was anxious to get back on the course against Heil. “I
should be pleased, but in fact I’m incredibly disappointed,” said
Kearney, who earned the single moguls silver and dual moguls
bronze. “I wasn’t trying to achieve a bronze medal.”
Home Team Highs and Lows
The U.S. had to settle for second in the overall
medals rankings with seven podiums (one gold,
Schlopy) to Canada’s 16.
Only two medals came from the same U.S. Ski
Team member (Kearney’s silver and bronze). The
remaining five medals were won by the country’s
independent slopestyle and halfpipe athletes.
The aerials jump became Heartbreak Hill for the
Yanks as only one American man qualified for finals
and 13-year U.S. Team member Emily Cook, top
qualifier and first-round leader, slid to a seventh-
place finish after missing the landing on her final
jump. Young Ashley Caldwell, 17, provided some
hope for the future with her fourth-place finish.
Alex Schlopy secured the only U.S. gold in the half-
pipe, while Sammy Carlson took silver in the slope-
style and Keri Herman (right) took the slopestyle
bronze. Halfpiper Jen Hudak took silver and Simon
Dumont (above) earned the bronze.
