By Andrew Mitchell
Although a mogul competition still remains before the Canadian
Freestyle Ski Team can announce its squad for the 2006 Winter Games, the big
picture got a lot clearer at Lake Placid this past weekend.
There were two moguls contest and an aerials contest up for
grabs, with a crowd of thousands cheering on the competitors. The Canadians
always have a lot of fans in Lake Placid, as it’s one of the main summer
training sites for the national team.
In the first moguls contest on Friday, Stephanie St. Pierre of
Victoriaville, Quebec came one step closer to locking her spot on the national
team with a silver medal performance, between Michelle Roark of the U.S. and
Kari Traa of Norway.
“It feels really good to get that medal,” said the 20-year-old
St. Pierre. “I was pretty frustrated after the prelims and in the final I told
myself I was going to show what I was capable of.
“The Olympic situation wasn’t causing me stress since I’m
ranked second for the spot. For me, I really wanted to prove to myself I could
win a medal before the Games.”
Four other Canadians qualified for the finals by finishing in
the top-16. Audrey Robichaud of Val-Belair, Quebec was sixth, Elisa Kurylowicz
of Manotick, Ontario was eighth, Jennifer Heil of Spruce Grove, Alberta was
ninth and Whistler’s Sylvia Kerfoot was 12
th
.
So far Heil is the only Canadian guaranteed a spot on the
Olympic team in moguls.
Meanwhile, Alexandre Bilodeau of Rosemere, Quebec showed why he
deserves to be on the team with a silver medal performance of his own, between
Whistler’s Dale Begg-Smith (now living in Vancouver and competing for
Australia) and Toby Dawson of the U.S.
It was Bilodeau’s second career World Cup medal, after winning
gold two weeks earlier. Prior to that the 18-year-old former aerials specialist
was known as a skier who impressed in training, but had trouble in
competitions.
“I’m not too disappointed to drop a placing (to Toby Dawson) in
the final, things are going well for me,” he said. “My run in the final was
clean until the second air on which I went higher and further than expected.
That affected my timing down to the last bumps. Still, I’m delivering the whole
package when I compete. My airs, my speed, my skiing are all very strong right
now.”
Three teammates also qualified for the finals. Marc-Andre
Moreau of Chambly, Quebec was eighth, Warren Tanner of Grimsby, Ontario was
ninth and Chris Wong of Prince George was 13
th
.
In the aerials the following day, the women’s finals were
cancelled as a result of a snowstorm and only the preliminary results were
counted. Based on those results, Amber Peterson of Thunder Bay, Ontario
finished the day in second place overall, making her first World Cup podium
appearance. Evelyne Leu of Switzerland took the gold, while Anna Zukal also
claimed silver with the same score as Peterson.
The men’s competition was moved to Sunday. Ryan Blais of Grande
Prairie, Alberta took the gold medal, but still missed qualifying for the
Olympics when Jeff Bean, who needed a podium result to keep his Olympic spot,
finished second. The Olympic team will include Steve Omischl, Bean, Kyle Nissen
and Warren Shouldice.
Omischl is currently recovering from an injury, and Shouldice
and Nissen were fourth and seventh respectively at Lake Placid.
“You have no idea how much pressure there was today,” said
Bean. “I just feel I can breathe now.
“Ryan went before me and put down one of the best jumps you can
do. So I knew his score and what I had to do. And I did an absolutely great
jump. For us to come 1-2 under the highest pressure situation is unbelievable.”
Blais was frustrated, but will accompany the team to Italy as
an alternate.
“I’m heartbroken. What can I say? I’m really happy with how
I’ve jumped, it was the best I’ve ever done. In reality, Jeff and I knew we’d
be in a fight until the end and I knew all I could do was focus on my
performance,” he said.
“I certainly have no plans to retire. I want to go the Olympics
so bad and I’m jumping better than ever.”
The second moguls event also took part on Sunday. Jennifer Heil
stepped up to claim the silver medal behind Kari Traa, while Jillian Vogtli of
the U.S. finished third. St.-Pierre was fifth and Audrey Robichaud 12
th
.
Begg-Smith finished with the gold medal once again, followed by
Sami Mustonen and Tapio Luusua in second and third. Marc-Andre Moreau was
fifth, Chris Wong ninth, Jean-Francois Therrien 12
th
, Alexandre
Bilodeau 14
th
and Warren Tanner 15
th
.