Minsk, Belarus – Canadian Olivier Rochon tightened his grip on the FIS Freestyle World Cup aerials leader’s yellow bib on Saturday with a fourth place finish in Belarus.

The 22-year-old from Gatineau, Quebec scored 96.65 on his triple twisting, triple backflip in the super final, but a soft takeoff cost him a spot on the podium. Ukraine took the two top positions with Stanislav Kravchuk scoring 117.92 and Oleksandr Abramenko at 102.87. Thomas Lambert of Switzerland rounded out the podium at 99.99.

It was a difficult week for the aerialists as the well-prepared course suffered from shifting temperatures, rain, snow and wind.

Rochon was first after the finals round, but his legs buckled on the take off of his superfinal jump.

“I was sick all day and didn’t eat,” said Rochon, “So, I had soft legs and the jump was soft too, I think that’s why I missed my takeoff. But, fourth is as close as you can get to the podium and I landed my jump even with that bad takeoff so I’m happy and landing that jump is a confidence boost.”

Rochon’s finish here means he’s still on top of the leader board for FIS freestyle aerials with 454 points. With only two World Cup events left in the calendar, next in line for the coveted crystal globe is Lambert with 348 points.

Rochon was the only Canadian entry in today’s event. Jean-Christophe André of Montreal was scheduled to compete, but after a big crash in training coach Dennis Capicik pulled him from the competition. André has a bruised face, but no other injuries and did not sustain a concussion. Dylan Ferguson, of Amesbury, Mass., finished seventh in the FIS Freestyle World Cup in Minsk Saturday. Teammate Scotty Bahrke, of Squaw Valley, Calif., who won the previous World Cup, ended the day in 14th.

“t was a crazy day. It was spring-like, just super warm. It snowed during the night, then turned to pouring rain. Getting speed was a challenge,” said U.S. Ski Team aerials coach Todd Ossian. “Our guys jumped awesome in training. Scotty just had a disappointing jump in qualifications. He came around a little quickly in his second flip. Scotty’s confidence is still really high coming off his win last week. Dylan is super confident too, he has had great results this year; he has come in second and third, and is currently fourth in the aerials World Cup standings.”

In the women’s field the podium went to Yu Yang of China who was first at 80.62. Tanja Shaerer of Switzerland took the silver at 78.01 and Xin Zhang of China was third at 75.12.

There were no American or  Canadian women in Saturday’s event.  Emily Cook, of Belmont, Mass., is expected to make her return to the World Cup for the next competition taking place in Moscow, Russia on Mar. 10.

OFFICIAL RESULTS
FIS Freestyle World Cup
Minsk, Belarus – Feb. 25, 2012
Aerials

Men:

Women: