Park City, UT – Canada’s Warren Shouldice and China’s Shaung Cheng were crowned 2011 World Champions in Friday night’s aerials competition on the prestigious Deer Valley jumps in Park City. American Ashley Caldwell, of Charleston, S.C., jumped to fourth, leading the USA. Fellow American Emily Cook, of Belmont, Mass., finished seventh after leading the first of two jumps.nFriday was a night of ups and downs for the American women. Cook, who had qualified first on Thursday, lit up the crowd with a 96.23 on her first jump – the best score of the evening. Caldwell, who had won a World Cup in Lake Placid, N.Y. two weeks earlier, was third with a score of 93.41. It was on their final jumps where things didn’t go smoothly.
On her second jump, Caldwell dropped the DD (degree of difficulty) a notch but wasn’t clean on her air and form, hitting just 80.32 on her full-full (two flips with two twists). China’s Shuang Cheng, though, had made it interesting, moving from fourth into the lead with a strong final round.
It all came down to Cook, in the final jump of the finals. She needed 92.17 to win. But she didn’t get it. The two-time Olympian went huge off the kicker but landed in the back seat, slapping back on the landing and dropping to seventh.
Despite the mistakes, both women were upbeat after the finals.
“It’s a really challenging sport and that’s why we love it,” said Cook. “Every jump counts. I had great jumps leading up to that last one and unfortunately a small mistake cost me the good finish that I wanted.”
“This is my first World Championships, I was excited to make finals,” exclaimed the bubbly Caldwell. When asked about the large crowd and the influence of their cheering Caldwell answered, “It’s so sick, I feel like a rock star! It is really exciting.”
Women’s gold and silver went to the Chinese duo of Cheng and Mengtao Xu. Olga Volkova of Ukraine was bronze.
Canada’s lone athlete in the women’s finals, Crystal Lee from Queensville, Ontario, also had a respectable 10th place showing at 143.36 in her first World Championship event.
“I landed four jumps in a row so that’s pretty awesome,” said Lee. “I couldn’t really ask for much more. I’m building my confidence with every landing.”
The men’s aerials finals ended up being all about Shouldice, who jumped to literal perfection, with a perfect score for his second jump Friday night on his way to winning the World Championship.
Shouldice, the defending bronze medalist, was joined on the podium by Guangpu Qi of China with silver and Anton Kushnir of Belarus with bronze – the first championship medals for both. The USA’s Nevin Brown, of Streetsboro, Ohio, finished 12th in his World Championship debut.
Reigning World Champion Ryan St. Onge, of Winter Park, Colo., did not qualify for finals, leaving the 2011 title up for grabs.
“Even in my wildest dreams I couldn’t have imagined putting down a second jump like that to hear that score, 139.5, I’ll remember that for the rest of my life,” said a stunned Shouldice, of Calgary, Alberta, right after the event adding, “We’ve had so many great athletes in the past – like Nico Fontaine and Steve Omischl – and now you can add me to that list. It’s unreal. I feel honored to do well and represent my team and my country the way I have.”
OFFICIAL RESULTS
FIS World Freestyle Ski Championships
Deer Valley Resort, Park City, UT – Feb. 4, 2011
Aerials
Men
Gold: Warren Shouldice, Canada, 253.66
Silver: Guangpu Qi, China, 250.95
Bronze: Anton Kushnir, Belarus, 249.63
Women
Gold: Shuang Cheng, China, 188.40
Silver: Mengtao Xu, China, 188.23
Bronze: Olga Volkova, Ukraine, 178.59