Park City, UT – It was a stellar ending to a storybook World Championships for the Canadian Freestyle Ski Team, which picked up another four medals in the Dual Mogul held Saturday night at Deer Valley Resort in Park City, including World Championship titles for Alex Bilodeau and the retiring Jenn Heil. American Hannah Kearney claimed bronze in the women’s competition.nAfter four rounds of international head-to-head finals, it all came down to the Canadians, as the old guard went against the teenage up-and comers for the title. On the women’s side, Spruce Grove, Alberta’s Heil raced against 19-year-old Montreal native Chloe Dufour-Lapointe. Dufour-Lapointe had already beaten Kearney, the reigning Olympic champion, to make it into the final round, and she put up a convincing fight against Heil. Heil prevailed, taking her second Worlds title of this event after winning the Single Mogul title on Wednesday.
“To go against Chloe, who represents the future of our sport, was amazing,” said Heil, who announced last week that she will retire at the end of this season. She added that despite her success in Park City she is not going to reconsider her retirement decision, but said that the showing in Utah has given her confidence about what she is leaving behind.
“The team is in such great shape, and that’s not a fluke. It’s pretty exciting the change we’ve created in sport in this country, we’ve invested, targeted and focused on excellence and now we are seeing the results, it shows what we are capable of as a nation.”
Dufour-Lapointe, who was sick with a cold earlier in the week and faltered in the single moguls, was stunned by her silver-medal accomplishment. “I can’t really believe it, I am so proud of myself and so honored to be able to ski against my hero, Jenn Heil,” she said.
Kearney’s bronze marked her second medal of the Championships after taking silver in moguls earlier in the week. The Norwich, Vt. native won the consolation round match with teammate Heather McPhie, of Bozeman, Mont., who was fourth.
Kearney, who qualified first, blasted through to the semifinals, where she crossed the line .16 seconds slower than Canadian Chloe Dufor-Lapointe. The speed points were a critical difference as Dufor-Lapointe advanced to the finals by only one point over Kearney.
“Today my goal was to ski my own runs and I did ski five solid competition runs. I should be pleased, but in fact I’m incredibly disappointed,” Kearney said, spoken like a true competitor. “I wasn’t trying to achieve a bronze medal.”
After qualifying third, McPhie skied her way into the semifinals, where she faced off against Heil. The pace set by Heil was quick and McPhie could not hold her line through the midsection getting bucked off course.
In the small final McPhie unfortunately lost her edge on the last mogul before the second jump and was tossed into the air.
“I do a helicopter off the bottom air, which means I was spinning and could see her in a position she should not have been,” said Kearney of McPhie’s crash.
Despite tough competition, McPhie remained optimistic.
“Those were my first wins in duals all year. I’ll take them,” McPhie said. “It was the first time I’ve made finals [this season].”
As for other Canadians, Quebec City’s Audrey Robichaud won her first dual against Japan’s Arisa Murato, but came up short against countrywoman Dufour-Lapointe.
She finished the day in fifth position. Summerland, British Columbia’s Kristi Richards was sixth after losing a very close dual to Kearney.
In the men’s round, Bilodeau met up with 18-year-old Deux-Montagnes, Quebec-native Mikael Kingsbury for the crown of World Champion. As the lower qualifier for finals, Kingsbury was forced to ski a course he hadn’t skied all night. He caught an edge and lost control, giving the win to Rosemere, Quebec’s Bilodeau.
“It feels great to win here,” said Bilodeau, the Olympic Champion and defending Dual Mogul World Champion who had never before won on the Deer Valley course. “It’s super hard to defend your title when you have young guys like (Kingsbury) coming up. I’m working harder and harder to stay there, but the young guys like Mikael are pushing harder and harder, too.”
Japan’s Nishi Nouyuki beat World Cup points leader Guilbaut Colas, from France, for the bronze medal in the small final.
In a sour twist of fate, all three U.S. men were in the same bracket for Saturday night’s finals, forcing a faceoff between Cle Elum, Wash.’s Patrick Deneen and teammate Joey Discoe, of Telluride, Colo. in the first round. Deneen won, making the quarterfinals.
“You’ve got to just survive to the top air,” said Deneen about duals strategy. “On my last run I skied over my pole. My pole was gone, so it kind of ended my day.”
Deneen wrapped up the Worlds duals in fifth place. Carrabassett Valley, Maine’s Jeremy Cota, who has been on a hot streak for the last few weeks, lost his first round dual against Nouyuki. Nouyuki, after defeating Cota, would go on to knock out Deneen on his way to a bronze medal.
Discoe wound up in 13th place, followed by Lake Tahoe, Calif.’s Sho Kashima in 18th. Two young Canadian team members also made finals at their first-ever World Championships, Cedric Rochon of St.-Sauveur, Quebec, and Marc-Antoine Gagnon of Terrebonne, Quebec, who finished in 11th and 15th positions, respectively.
“Seeing young guys like Cedric and Marc-Antoine even make it to World Championships is a tremendous accomplishment, but to make it to finals speaks volumes about their talent and potential,” said Canadian Freestyle Ski Association CEO Peter Judge.
Veteran Canadian team member, Pierre-Alexandre Rousseau of Drummondville, Quebec, had an uncharacteristic fall in the qualification round and finished the night in 29th.
Dual moguls were the final event in a very successful week put on by Deer Valley Resort and Park City Mountain Resort in Park City. The 2011 FIS Freestyle World Championships included men’s and women’s slopestyle for the first, a potential new inclusion for the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.
OFFICIAL RESULTS
FIS World Freestyle Ski Championships
Deer Valley Resort, Park City, UT – Feb. 5, 2011
Dual Moguls
Men
Gold: Alexandre Bilodeau, Canada
Silver: Mikael Kingsbury, Canada
Bronze: Nishi Nouyuki, Japan
Women
Gold: Jenn Heil, Canada
Silver: Chloe Dufor-Lapointe, Canada
Bronze: Hannah Kearney, Norwich, VT