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Air force wins four World Cup medals

Canadians earn one gold, two silver and one bronze at Whistler World Cup When commenting on the Canadian Freestyle Ski Team’s medal hopefuls in the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, Team Leader Todd Allison said there wasn’t one or two medal hopef

Canadians earn one gold, two silver and one bronze at Whistler World Cup

When commenting on the Canadian Freestyle Ski Team’s medal hopefuls in the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, Team Leader Todd Allison said there wasn’t one or two medal hopefuls, but 14.

"Everyone on the team has shown that they can win on any given day."

Last weekend, the freestyle team proved him right, winning four out of a possible 12 medals, and qualifying more than a dozen athletes for the finals.

The weekend started right for the Canadians, with two Canadian men and two Canadian women in the final round of eight in the dual moguls on Jan. 26.

Rachel Belliveau, the 2001 junior world champion, went on to make her first World Cup podium appearance with an unbelievable gold medal performance.

Like the rest of her teammates, the 21 year old from Ste-Foy, Quebec, benefited from a more intense summer training program.

"I didn’t really think anything was tough (today)," she said. "In the final I had a little trouble on the top air, but I had big runs all day long."

To get into the semi-finals, Belliveau beat Canadian Olympic hopeful Tami Bradley, who divides her time between Vancouver and Whistler. In the semi-final heat she beat Miyuki Hatanaka of Japan to make the finals against Margarita Marbler of Austria.

Kari Traa of Norway went on to win the bronze medal ahead of Hatanaka.

The other woman to make the finals was 24 year old Syliva Kerfoot, a Vancouver-Whistler skier who is currently competing with the National Moguls Development Team.

Bradley, Jennifer Heil, Elisa Kurlowicz and Kristi Richards tied for ninth after failing to qualify for the round of eight.

In the men’s competition, Stephane Rochon took the silver medal and second place overall in the World Cup dual mogul standings. It was the 27 year olds’ fifth medal of the 2002 season.

The gold medal went to Garth Hager of the U.S.

"I decided to take every run like it was an Olympic run and not try to think it was like dual moguls," said Rochon. "If someone had asked me who I skied against each round today I wouldn’t have been able to tell them. I was just focusing on what I was doing.

"I feel ready for the Olympics but obviously the Americans are very strong and they’ll be skiing before a home crowd," he said.

Richard Gay of France won the bronze medal against Junpei Endou of Japan.

The other Canadian in the finals was 21-year-old Warren Tanner of Grimsby, Ontario, who is also competing with the national development team.

In the aerials competition on the following day, the last World Cup event of the season, the women came close with three jumpers making it to the finals, but landed short of the podium.

Veronika Bauer of North York, Ontario, the reigning 2001 FIS Freestyle World Ski Champion, came closest to the hardware with a fourth place finish.

"This is a great result," said the 21 year old. "I had a good week of jumping, but I haven’t been able to jump well (lately). So to pull off the two jumps I’m doing at the Olympics is a victory."

Veronica Brenner of Sharon, Ontario, 27, finished in sixth place.

Diedra Dionne of Red Deer, Alberta finished the day in 11 th place, and the season in third place overall. Since the start of the season at Mt. Buller, Australia, Dionne has made the finals in every competition. She won bronze at Lake Placid, and has three fourth place finishes to her credit.

The gold medal and the World Cup title went to Alla Tsuper of Belarus, who has three gold medals, two silver medals and a fourth place finish this season.

Xu Nannan and Ll Nina were second and third for China, which put three women on the podium.

The men’s competition was nearly a Canadian sweep, with all five of the men who made it into the finals landing their jumps perfectly. It looked like Canadian men were going to sweep the podium until Dmitri Arkhipov of Russia, the last jumper of the day, took the gold medal and the first podium of his career.

Nicolas Fontaine of Magog, Quebec, a four-time world champion, finished in second place, followed closely in third by Ottawa’s Jeff Bean.

"You’re always thinking about the Olympics, and nobody wants to get hurt before that, but it’s almost more dangerous to play it safe in this sport," said Bean. "A lot of it’s mental, and when you start to think about safety you start to think about injuries, and when you start to worry about injuries, that’s when you lose your focus and hurt yourself."

According to Bean the conditions were perfect and the atmosphere at the top of the jump was extremely positive.

"It’s amazing to see so many guys land their jumps in a row. I think only one guy touched his hand out of the 12. I’m just happy to make the podium and to come away with a bronze. I wouldn’t have cried if Dmitri touched a hand down or something. But really he’s a great guy, and I’m happy where I am."

Bean was also the top ranked Canadian at the end of the season, coming in fourth place overall. After a disappointing start in Australia, Bean made it into the finals at every competition and won a silver medal at Mont Tremblant on Jan. 12.

Kyle Nissen of Calgary posted a career-high score to finish in fourth place, while Steve Omischl of North Bay was fifth.