Calgary (AB), Canada – Gold medals at the Canada Post Canadian Freestyle National Championships at Canada Olympic Park in Calgary on Saturday went to aerialists Veronika Bauer of Toronto and Olivier Rochon of Gatineau, Quebec, and to moguls skiers Kristi Richards of Summerland, British Columbia, and Alex Bilodeau of Rosemère, Quebec.nOne of the most gratifying wins belonged to Bauer, 30, with her fifth national senior title. The three-time Olympian hasn’t jumped much this year, after an early-season concussion kept her sidelined several weeks before the Vancouver Olympics.
Bauer then missed a usually-routine double twisting double flip, to place 15th and fall short of reaching the 12-skier Olympic final.

Ironically, Bauer had planned to perform the same jump in Saturday’s second round, only to opt for a harder triple-twisting double backflip. And she nailed it, to win by a landslide, with a world-class, two-jump score of 190.87 points.

Commenting on her decision to go for a tougher jump, Bauer said, “I just felt I couldn’t live the nightmare of missing that jump again. I’d rather do a hard jump poorly, rather than do an easier jump poorly.

“I just came to jump with my friends and have fun. I still love jumping,” added the 2001 world champion, who plans to compete with the national team for a 13th year next season.

The silver and bronze medals went to development team members Laurence Allard-Riendeau of Montreal and Crystal Lee of Queensville, Ontario, with scores of 153.03 and 147.05, respectively.

Rochon, 20, collected his very first national championship win. “It feels good because I’ve always wanted to win a national junior or seniors,” said Rochon, who captured a bronze medal at the national juniors in moguls, not aerials, several seasons ago.

This year, Rochon emerged as the aerials alternate on the Canadian Olympic team and a forerunner. He was the 11th male on a freestyle ski team whose Olympic cap was 10 men.

“I’m happy I did well,” said Rochon, who performed quad-twisting and triple-twisting triple flips for the national title. “I came to show that I can jump well, even though I didn’t make the Olympics. It makes me proud of myself.”

His winning score was 239.85. Rémi Belanger of Mascouche, Quebec, was second and Travis Gerrits of Milton, Ontario, took third. Their scores were 218.49 and 216.39.

The World Cup stars finished farther back. Calgary’s Kyle Nissen, who was fifth at the Olympics, placed fourth. World Cup teammates Ryan Blais of Grande Prairie, Alberta, Warren Shouldice of Calgary and Steve Omischl of Kelowna, British Columbia, were fifth, seventh and eighth, respectively, with lower-difficulty jumps after a lengthy break from training.

In the individual moguls finals, victory went to Olympians Bilodeau and Richards in convincing fashion.

Returning from a bad ankle sprain suffered late in the World Cup season, Bilodeau, 22, was pleased to be back on snow.

“It’s better, but I’m definitely on pain-killers,” said the 2010 Olympic champion after capturing his sixth national moguls title – with three individual moguls titles, three in dual moguls, and a chance for another dual-moguls title Sunday. “I was in control. I felt I made a couple of mistakes, but it was good enough.”

“It’s weird, definitely,” said Bilodeau of his newfound fame after winning Olympic gold. “But I appreciate it, it’s always good comments.”

Second place went to teenage sensation Mikael Kingsbury of Deux Montagnes, Quebec, with a score of 25.52. Third place went to World Cup rookie Cédric Rochon of St-Sauveur, Quebec, in 24.61.

In women’s moguls, Richards was exhausted after a draining, yet exhilarating, season that included a 20th-place finish among 20 Olympic finalists.

It was a bittersweet Olympic experience, she said. She received incredible support for her performance in Vancouver where she got up after crashing and wowed the crowd with a huge full twisting back flip. But, she admits she fell well short of her goal of Olympic gold.

“To have such a reaction, from the community and the whole nation, and what it instilled in people (remains with me),” said Richards. “Their reaction reminded me to stay true to your heart, stay true to your goals, and no matter what happens, get up and keep going.”

Entering the nationals, Richards said she was exhausted from the longest competitive season of her life. She called her fourth national moguls title very satisfying.

She’ll now compete at least one more season, with a focus on the 2011 FIS World Championships on the 2002 Olympic course in Deer Valley.

Richards’ winning score Saturday was 23.76.

Next in line were the Dufour-Lapointe sisters of Montreal. 2010 Olympian Chloé was second, Justine third and Maxime fourth with scores of 23.60, 22.98 and 22.10.

Due to injury, two-time Olympic medalist Jenn Heil of Spruce Grove, Alberta, did not compete.