Are, Sweden – A day after cementing the World Cup moguls skiing title, Olympic Champion Hannah Kearney clinched the FIS Freestyle World Cup overall title with a victory in dual moguls Saturday in Are, Sweden. It was the Norwich, Vt. native’s eighth World Cup win of the season. Patrick Deneen, of Cle Elum, Wash., fought his way back onto the podium in third. This was Deneen’s third podium of the year.n”It wasn’t always perfect, but I’m proud of my performance,” said Kearney of her championship season. “It feels really good.”
Kearney is the first American to win the World Cup overall since Jeremy Bloom topped the standings in 2005. Her road to victory Saturday exemplifies the type of athlete and competitor Kearney is.
For the qualifying run, athletes are randomly assigned a course lane. In Friday’s individual moguls World Cup more than 80% of the skiers skied the same line. Kearney, whose lane preference was in that majority, was assigned to the other lane for her qualifying run.
“They assigned me to the other course,” said Kearney, who qualified for the finals in fifth. “I had a shaky qualification run, very slow too, which is not a good sign for duals.”
The U.S. women had five athletes qualify for Saturday’s finals, unfortunately four of the five were paired against one another in the first round. Kearney was paired against teammate Kayla Snyderman, of Winchester, Mass., with Bozeman, Mont.’s Heather McPhie and Heidi Kloser, of Vail, Colo., the other round one pairing.
After moving past Snyderman, Kearney knocked out Eliza Outtrim of Steamboat Springs, Colo. in the quarterfinals. The semifinals proved the toughest for Kearney. Her run was not perfect, but with a score of 18-17, Kearney advanced to the finals. It was in the finals where Kearney skied her best run of the day, topping Justine Dufour-LaPointe of Canada with a score of 23-12.
“I was the fastest skier in all my duals,” said Kearney, “which was one of my main goals.”
“Her [Kearney] performance today was very impressive,” said U.S. Ski Team head moguls coach Scott Rawles. “After having clinched the World Cup title [moguls] yesterday, you might think there would be a bit of a let down, but she really got it done at the end.”
“This whole weekend was really nice,” said Kearney. “It takes a lot of energy to win two events in a row.”
Dufour-Lapointe beat reigning double World Champion (single and dual moguls) Jenn Heil of Montreal, Canada in the semi-finals after Heil barged the start gate and threw herself off balance. The Spruce Grove, Alberta native took the bronze medal after beating Russia’s Regina Rakhimova in the small final.
Current Olympic and World Dual Mogul Champion Alex Bilodeau, of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, won for the men over overall World Cup points leader, Gilbert Colas of France.
“The skiing was so fast today,” said Bilodeau of the icy and challenging course. “At that kind of speed any small mistake will push you off the edge. But I come from Quebec and I like a firm course with big moguls, so it was good for me. Plus, absorption is one of my strengths and it helps me maintain my speed in control.”
The win propelled Bilodeau into second place in the overall rankings.
The U.S. men were led by a resurgent Deneen. After not finishing the course in qualifying for Friday’s individual moguls event, Deneen advanced in fifth for Saturday’s duals World Cup before going on to win the consolation round over Canadian Mikael Kingsbury, of Deux Montagnes, Quebec, for third.
“He [Deneen] was pretty disappointed after yesterday,” said Rawles. “He came back and did a really good job today.”
Along with two podium finishes, the U.S. Freestyle Ski Team’s dual moguls roster fared well Saturday with McPhie finishing fifth, Outtrim, sixth, Snyderman 13th and Kloser 15th for the women. The men also had solid performances by Sho Kashima, of Lake Tahoe, Calif. in 11th and Farmington, Maine’s David DiGravio in 14th.
Six Canadian men earned spots in the 16-man final. Rookie Simon Pouliot Cavanagh (Quebec City, Quebec) finished fifth; Cédric Rochon, (St. Sauveur, Quebec), ninth; Marc-Antoine Gagnon (Terrebonne, Quebec), 12th and Eddie Hicks (Langley, British Columbia), 13th.
Drummondville, Quebec’s Pierre-Alexandre Rousseau finished just outside the finals, in 17th position.
World Cup competition moves to Myrkalen-Voss, Norway Mar. 20 for the final event of the season. The top athletes, based on overall rankings, are brought together to compete in dual moguls competition.
OFFICIAL RESULTS
FIS Freestyle World Cup
Are, Sweden – Mar. 12, 2011
Dual Moguls
Men
1. Alexandre Bilodeau, Canada
2. Guilbaut Colas, France
3. Patrick Deneen, Cle Elum, WA
Women
1. Hannah Kearney, Norwich, VT
2. Justine Dufour-LaPointe, Canada
3. Jennifer Heil, Canada
Freestyle World Cup Overall Standings
Men
1. Andreas Matt, Austria, 75.44
2. Guilbaut Colas, France, 74.10
3. Alexandre Bilodeau, Canada, 67.90
Women
1. Hannah Kearney, Norwich, VT, 90.90
2. Jennifer Heil, Canada, 63.20
3. Shuang Cheng, China, 63.14