Park City, UT – Olympic gold medalist Hannah Kearney dueled her way through four rounds to take the top spot for the 14th consecutive time in Saturday night’s Visa Freestyle International held at Deer Valley Resort in Park City. Russia’s Sergey Volkov was the men’s winner, stopping a would-be record breaking seventh win for Mikael Kingsbury of Canada, who finished second.

“For Hannah to take 14 wins in a row is just outstanding.,” said U.S. Freestyle Program Director, Todd Schirman. “The depth is here, the leadership is here. Kearney is on fire.”

Kearney’s winning jump package Saturday night included a layout and a heli.

“I have never won duals on this course in my career, today feels great!” said an excited Kearney, of Norwich, Vt., following Saturday’s competition. “Dual moguls can be more satisfying just because you have to ski more runs. Especially today, when everyone skied well against me and its just a long day when you have back-to-back competitions.

“I think that in duals, you often assume that whoever crossed the line first took it, but turns are still 50 percent. She (Heather McPhie) has been pushing me all year, we’ve been so tight in times. I pushed myself but still stayed clean and that’s what won it for me tonight.”

McPhie, of Bozeman, Mont., grabbed her second podium of the week by coming in third behind Justine Dufour-Lapointe of Canada by throwing her D-spin at the bottom, paired with a back cross on the top.

“I really want to beat Hannah, so I like every experience I have to dual her and just keep getting better and faster against her. I’m a happy camper. It was a really good time out there tonight,” said McPhie. “I feel like I’m finally skiing with that fire that I had that Olympic year. Last year I was still working on my new tricks and this year throwing that D-spin in every event, even duals, has been so exciting. This is my third podium ever with my D-spin so I’m so stoked.”

Dufour-Lapointe held her own in the very close final, and actually crossed the line ahead of Kearney. The two had met twice before in a duals final.

“I think I did my best job, seriously it was my best-ever dual against Hannah. I stayed straight and I was faster than her. I’m getting better every dual against her so one time I’ll beat her for real,” said the thrilled 17-year-old, who credited her accomplishment to a new technique she’s working on. “I look forward more and push my chest up like I’m proud and it lets my knees get higher because my back is straighter and it makes me go faster.”

Mikaela Matthews, of Frisco, Colo., took her first World Cup top 10 by placing eighth, a career best, finishing just ahead of Piedmont, Calif.’s K.C. Oakley, who took seventh. The win solidified Kearney’s grip on the women’s World Cup lead.

“Being the World Cup overall leader, there is nothing like it, you are literally on top of the world, it is a fantastic feeling,” Kearney concluded.

Teenager Kingsbury, of Deux-Montagnes, Quebec, saw his attempt to break American Jeremy Bloom’s six-win World Cup men’s moguls record streak shattered by Volkov.

“I won’t break the record here, but it’s quite an accomplishment and I’m proud of myself,” said Kingsbury who maintains a healthy grip on the yellow World Cup leader’s bib.

Volkov’s brother Andrey rounded out the podium in third. Carrabassett Valley, Maine’s Jeremy Cota just missed the men’s podium in fourth.

“I started the day off skiing pretty well and a little bit later on I don’t know if I got tired or what but the skiing wasn’t going quite the way I wanted. I was happy with my performance,” said a satisfied Cota. “Racing with someone right next to you pushes you. It’s definitely an exciting feeling.”

OFFICIAL RESULTS
FIS Freestyle World Cup
Deer Valley Resort – Park City, UT – Feb. 4, 2012
Dual Moguls

Women:

Men: