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Freestylers clean up in Norway

Marielle Thompson back on podium; team rakes in 10 medals at world championship
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The 2013 FIS World Championships for every sport are a big deal, providing athletes a chance to qualify early for the 2014 Olympics. For Canadian athletes and national sports organizations, the championships are also crucial when it comes to applying for funding through the national Athlete Assistance Program.

In that scope, things really couldn't have gone any better for the Canadian Freestyle Ski Team in Norway last week. While the halfpipe team was kept off the podium, Canadian athletes won medals in every discipline — three medals in moguls, three medals in dual moguls, one medal in aerials, two medals in slopestyle and one medal in ski cross — for a total of 10 medals.

Mogul skiers win six medals

Canada captured three out of four world championship titles with Mikael Kingsbury winning the gold medal in single moguls, Alex Bilodeau the men's gold in dual moguls and Chloe Dufour-Lapointe the women's gold in dual moguls. Kingsbury was second in dual moguls, Bilodeau second in single moguls and Justine Dufour-Lapointe was third in individual moguls. That's six out of a possible 12 medals for the team.

In the opening single moguls competition, Kingsbury finished with a score of 27.59, while Bilodeau was close behind with a 26.95. Patrick Deneen of the U.S. was almost a full point back to win the bronze.

The other Canadians struggled with Philippe Marquis in 15th and Marc-Antoine Gagnon 17th.

"I have been waiting a while for this and dreaming about the day that I would earn the World Championship title," said Kingsbury, the overall World Cup leader from last season. "I worked hard all summer to get to this day and I'm very happy."

Kingsbury joined the World Cup team in the 2011 season, and in his first three seasons he already has 28 podiums. His third season isn't over yet, but he's already secured himself a spot in the 2014 Games.

As for Justine Dufour-Lapoint, a third-place result was as good as gold after falling in the first round of eliminations and squeaking her way into the finals.

Hannah Kearney of the U.S. took the gold medal while Japan's Miki Ito — a rising star on a rising team this season — picked up the silver. Chloe Dufour-Lapointe was eighth for Canada, while Audrey Robichaud was 11th and Andi Naude 12th.

In the dual moguls, the final dual between Mikael Kingsbury and Alex Bilodeau was as close as they come with the judges giving the edge to Bilodeau.

"Honestly, it could have gone either way," said Bilodeau. "I can't wait to see the video, I'm sure it was super tight."

Patrick Deneen picked up the bronze medal once again, edging out Per Spett of Sweden in the small final competition. Other Canadians in the running include Philippe Marquis in seventh and Marc-Antoine Gagnon in 15th.

Jae-Woo Choi, a Korean skier who grew up in Whistler, was a solid 14th on the day.

Chloe Dufour-Lapointe defeated Miki Ito of Japan in the final dual, while Hannah Kearney edged out teammate Heather McPhie for the bronze. Andi Naude was seventh for Canada, her third top 10 results since joining the national team at the start of the season. Audrey Robichaud was ninth.

Gerrits second in aerials

With Olivier Rochon sidelined with a nagging groin injury, the pressure was on for Travis Gerrits to follow up his first World Cup medal of the season with a solid performance in Norway. Again, the young jumper from Ontario delivered, finishing second after making the super final against three Chinese aerialists.

"It is a victory in my eyes," said Gerrits. "I have done so much training up to this point. To finish second place today, with the craziness of the competition today, I'm just happy to be here."

The only other Canadian in the contest was Jean Christophe Andre, who placed 19th overall.

In the women's competition, Sabrina Guerin, the only Canadian, placed 20th.

Turski takes slopestyle win

In the women's slopestyle championship it was Canada's third gold-silver performance of the week with Kaya Turski placing first with an 89.6, followed by teammate Dara Howell with an 85.6. Grete Eliassen of the U.S. was third.

Whistler's Katie Tsuyuki's breakout season continued as she placed made the finals once again and placed fifth overall.

Turski's win was a clutch performance after she crashed on her first run and was left with just one chance to podium. She came through again, which is becoming something of a habit for her.

"I don't really know how I pulled it off," she said, "I just get in this mood where I am saying to myself, 'You know what, it's not the end of the world if this doesn't work out,' and somehow that gives me my flow and I just go with it. And it's been working, but I sure hope I land some first runs soon, that would be way easier."

In the men's competition Tom Wallisch of the U.S. placed first, followed by James Woods of Great Britain and Nick Goepper of the U.S. Canada's J.F. Houle was 11th after qualifying for the finals and crashing on both of his runs.

Thompson second in ski cross

After a slow start to her season, Whistler's Marielle Thompson has at last started skiing like her 2012 Crystal Globe-winning self on the ski cross tour, and managed a silver medal in a close race that included Switzerland's Fanny Smith and French skier Ophelie David. Smith took the win and David the bronze.

Thompson dedicated her medal to Nik Zoricic, a teammate who died in competition exactly one year before. "I thought about him at the start gate in the final and I had to take a second to calm down," she said. "Being on the podium, it was a big moment. This entire weekend has been pretty emotional. Definitely a lot of thoughts about Nik."

Kelsey Serwa, the defending World Champion, was unable to race after injuring her knee in training. Georgia Simmerling and Danielle Sundquist were 13th and 22nd for Canada.

On the men's side, Chris DelBosco was looking to defend his own World Championship title, but couldn't advance past the semi-finals. He finished his day in sixth, while Tristan Tafel was ninth, Brady Leman 15th and David Duncan 19th.