The Canadian Freestyle Ski Team continued its medal winning streak at Mont Gabriel, Quebec this past weekend. Vincent Marquis won the bronze medal in single moguls — the best finish of his career in single moguls after finishing fourth the week before at Lake Placid — while Steve Omischl earned the 15 th gold medal of his career in aerials to extend his lead in the World Cup standings.
Marquis edged out Guilbault Colas of France for the win, with Russia’s Ruslan Sharifullin taking the bronze medal.
“I think it’s good to have a performance like this at home in front of family and friends,” said Marquis, 23. “I’m still kind of new at this, but week-in and week-out I’m skiing better.”
Other Canadians making the top-16 final were Pierre-Alexandre Rousseau and Alex Bilodeau, who placed 13 th and 16 th respectively.
On the women’s side, 16 year old Chloe Dufour-Lapointe was the surprise of the day, placing fifth overall in her first World Cup appearance. Summerland’s Kristi Richards was one spot back in sixth, while Audrey Robichaud placed eighth.
Ekaterina Stolyarova won the gold medal, followed by Deborah Scanzio of Italy and Michelle Roark of the U.S.
Omischl’s gold came as a surprise after a rough few days of training leading to the competition.
“I had atrocious, atrocious training,” he said. “I’ve never been more nervous. I felt better at the Olympics.”
Omischl was also the only Canadian on the World Cup team competing in Quebec, with teammates Kyle Nissen, Cord Spero and Ryan Blais all on the team’s growing injury list. However, Jonathan Vellner of the development team surprised coaches when he came within a few points of making the finals and finished 13 th .
Anton Kushnir and Dmitri Dashinski of Belarus were second and third behind Omischl.
On the women’s side, Alla Tsuper of Belarus took the gold medal, followed by Nina Li of China and Lydia Lassila of Australia. The top Canadian was Amber Peterson in 11 th , with Veronika Bauer in 13 th .
The freestyle World Cup is heading to Park City, Utah for a World Cup this weekend, before coming to B.C. for the first test events at the 2010 Olympic facility at Cypress Mountain, Feb. 9-10.
