Canadian freestylers come away from world championships with lion’s share of medals
It would be hard to pick a single moment at the 2001 FIS Freestyle World Ski Championships that captured the athleticism, intensity, spirit, or goodwill of the competition.
Some of the memories do, however, stick out more than others.
• Pierre-Alexandre Rousseau and Stephane Rochon’s sincere congratulations to Finland’s Mikko Rokainen even though he cost Canada the gold in men’s single moguls, and Rokainen subsequently giving credit to the Canadians for pushing the competition to the next level.
• Aerialist Veronika Bauer’s emotional reaction to the judge’s pronouncement that she was world champion. Deidra Dionne’s bronze medal in the same competition.
• The crowd applauding Jim Schiman for going for it, making the biggest air (and biggest crash) of the day in dual moguls.
• Tami Bradley, smiling bigger than the even the gold medal winner after her own bronze medal performance in the duals.
During the day, freestyle athletes wowed the crowds and showed off the continuing development of their sport with a flurry of twists, spins and combinations that would have been unimaginable a few years ago.
At night, the crowds were treated to a big air exhibition featuring new school freeskiers, snowmobiles and an insane mountain biker, and to a quarterpipe display that saw skiers fly up and out of the range of the spotlights.
The envelope was definitely pushed, if not utterly destroyed by the calibre of competition.
More than 300 athletes, representing over 20 countries, competed in the World Championships. Winning five out of the 18 medals, more than any two other countries combined, definitely put Canada back on top of the heap.
Single Moguls – The white and red win silver and bronze
For a moment it looked like the Canadian men were going to win gold and silver in the single moguls Jan. 19, but Mikko Rokainen, the last skier of the day, had other ideas.
"I knew I had to have a good run, it was very important because last time we had spots one, two and three, so we had to make at least one medal this year," said Rokainen.
"The Canadians didn’t surprise me. I know Stephane and Pierre-Alexandre are very good skiers, and I wasn’t surprised at all to see them in the top three. When I heard their scores I knew I had to do very good with my run, and that’s what I did."
Rokainen pulled out a huge first jump, the biggest of the day, to earn the highest air scores and propel himself to the fastest overall time.
Rousseau, was in first place until Rokainen took over, landing a perfect 360 spin with an iron cross off the second jump. "I knew I had to do something special, that’s why I practised my 360 iron cross to use for the first time in competition. I knew I needed a big jump, a big finish – I performed it and did great," Rokainen said.
"It’s a world championship, you can’t hold back anything, you just have to go, go, go," Rousseau said. "At the bottom, waiting for the last skier to go, I never felt anything like that in my life. Your legs want to fall, you just want to crash down.
"When I saw Mikko take that first air, I was like ‘whoah’. He did it, and held on to it, and won. It was really gutsy, what he did, and he deserved (the gold)."
While Rousseau skied with his emotions, Rochon drew on his seven years of World Cup experience to pick the most the challenging route he could.
"For me it was just the opposite," said Rochon. "I was the cagey veteran. I decided to switch courses right before the contest. It was better for me, faster, and everything. I knew I had to push it up."
Canada’s Ryan Johnston also made it into the finals, but sprained his knee on a compression before launching off the second jump.
In the women’s competition, Norway’s Kari Traa was perfect, taking everything in stride and finishing almost a full second faster than the rest of the competition. Strong turns and jumps completed the picture.
"I’m skiing well this season, and just being confident that I can do it," said Traa, who currently leads World Cup standings in both single and dual moguls.
"Winning today ranks pretty high, just below Olympic gold. I would have been happy to be on the podium today, but this is the best thing to happen this year. It’s like a test for the Olympics. I know I can win."
Traa said she still felt that her jumps were weak, and with the other women hot on her heels she will have to train hard to stay in the lead – the place she prefers to be.
"I know I always ski good when I’m in that position. The others don’t have the pressure, but if I have the pressure it’s okay for me. I have many years of experience with that."
Maria Despas of Australia and Aiko Uemura of Japan finished second and third.
Jennifer Heil, the 17-year-old high school student from Spruce Grove, Alberta, was the top Canadian in seventh place with the highest air score of the day. Tami Bradley finished 12 th .
Aerials — ‘Little Vee" goes big as Canadian women finish first and third
Despite the falling snow and often limited visibility on Jan. 20, Toronto’s Veronika Bauer still pulled out her most difficult jump – a triple twisting double back somersault – to take the lead. She followed up with an easier second jump, which she landed perfectly to become the world champion.
The 21 year old was stunned by the result. "It’s pretty amazing. I can’t imagine in my wildest dreams for this to come so soon in my career. I’ve never had a first place in a World Cup yet and the first time I get to the top of the podium happens at the world championships. It couldn’t happen any better."
Deidra Dionne of Red Deer, Alberta, another rising star in only her second year of World Cup competition, finished third overall. She is clearly comfortable with the site, with two previous World Cup podium finishes at Blackcomb – a bronze last season and silver in December.
"We really worked on our speed and made sure it was perfect for the competition," said Dionne. "We have a really close team and to have Veronika on the podium and to win is just a dream come true for both of us."
Switzerland’s Michele Rohrbach won silver. Australia’s Jacqui Cooper performed the hardest jumps of the day – a pair of triple somersaults – but had trouble with the landings. The reigning world champion had to settle for sixth.
The Canadian men didn’t have as much luck, with skiers sticking to the snow and getting sidetracked on their way down to the ramp. The three qualifiers –Steve Omischl, Jeff Bean and Nicolas Fontaine – all had trouble with the landing and finished seventh, eight, and 12 th overall.
Alexei Grichin and Dmitiri Dashinski of Belarus finished first and second, followed by Joe Pack of the U.S.
Dual Moguls – Bradley wins bronze
Norway’s Kari Traa gave spectators a refresher course in why she is the number one mogul skier in the world on the final day of the world championships, dominating every single contest on Jan. 21. The only race that was even close was the showdown between Traa and bronze medalist Tami Bradley in the semi-finals.
Bradley, who was Canada’s top mogul skier last season with a couple of bronze medals and numerous top 12 finishes, was more than happy to walk away from the World Championships with a bronze.
The Vancouver/Whistler skier placed the bronze second only to her marriage to aerialist Andy Capicik last summer among lifetime achievements.
"This ranks pretty high in the freestyle life that I’ve led and I’m pretty psyched. I couldn’t ask for a better day – one, it was the world championships, two it was the best finish of my career, three, I did it at Blackcomb with all my friends and family in the crowd."
With the 2002 Winter Olympics on the horizon, Bradley says it couldn’t have happened at a better time. "I think this will give me a little bit more confidence, hopefully I know now that if you ski like this good things do happen. I hope my roller coaster season is over and things keep going up from here."
Corrine Bodner of Switzerland won the silver medal – a career best since finishing with the bronze medal at the last world championships.
Vancouver’s Sylvia Kerfoot won in the consolation round with a 360 iron cross on the second jump to finish fifth overall. Rachel Belliveau and Kelly Ringstad finished in ninth place.
The Canadian men didn’t have much luck in the duals as Pierre-Alexandre Rousseau and Stephane Rochon were eliminated in the round of 16. Jim Schiman went on to the consolation round after a spectacular jump and crash in the round of eight. Inspired, he annihilated Grischa Weber of Germany to finish seventh overall.
Canada led the medal count with five medals – one gold, one silver, and three bronze. Norway, Belarus, France and Switzerland walked away with two medals each, and Finland, Australia, Sweden, Japan and the U.S. each left with a medal.
The highlights of the world championships will be broadcast on CBC television on Jan. 27 at 3:30 p.m.
