Sochi, Russia – Colorado’s Torin Yater-Wallace and Gus Kenworthy battled through fog and rain on Saturday to go one-two for U.S. Freeskiing in the pre-Olympic test event of the halfpipe at Rosa Khutor outside Sochi. It was the first opportunity for the top athletes in the Olympics’ newest event to visit Sochi and test the new pipe.
It was Yater-Wallace’s first win of the season, earned via a double cork 1260, left 1080, switch 720 alley-oop double flat 900, and down the pipe double flat 900, and Kenworth’s career best result. Canada’s Mike Riddle rounded out the men’s podium in third.
“I’m happy with my results. Everyone skied well considering the weather,” Yater-Wallace said. “I mean, there were a few people that fell that could have put down sick runs, but that happens it’s a competition.
“It feels cool to be here at the Olympic venue – it’s a pretty good halfpipe – it’s long. The weather wasn’t great but hopefully next year it’s not as rainy and humid out, but you can’t change the weather,” he concluded.
Teammate David Wise, of Reno, Nev., was unable to impress the judges as he has through the Visa U.S. Freeskiing Grand Prix and X Games events recently and was fifth.
On the women’s side France’s Virginie Faivre took the gold, edging Canada’s Roz Groenewoud and Keltie Hansen, who finished second and third, respectively.
“Definitely I think that being on the podium here gives me a bit of a confidence boost going into next year to know that I can preform well in this pipe,” said Groenewoud, 23, of Calgary, Alberta. “That said, I’ve won events in pipes I’ve previously crashed, and crashed in events I’ve previously won in.”
The top American woman was Jamie Crane-Mauzy, of Park City, Utah, in ninth.
“I’m really disappointed with myself,” confessed Maddie Bowman, who finished 11th. “I just couldn’t get my trick dialed on this pipe. It’s been a great experience to check out Russia and where the Olympics will be, but I am looking forward to going home before World Champs and just having some fun skiing and seeing my brother who is going to visit me in Park City.”
Halfpipe skiing will make its Olympic debut in Sochi next year.
“With the Olympic attention I think that things have kind of stayed the same for us and we’ve stayed true to the core of the sport as far as our identity as athletes,” said Kenworthy. “There is such a huge platform for us to compete on and it provides us a lot of opportunities. The U.S. Freeskiing team is really amazing and they have really been helping out with training facilities and I think it’s working.”
FIS Freestyle World Cup
Sochi, Russia – Feb. 16, 2013
Halfpipe
Rank | Bib | Name | Year | Nation | Result | Points |
1 | 1 | YATER-WALLACE Torin | 1995 | USA | 93.8 | 1000.00 |
2 | 12 | KENWORTHY Gus | 1991 | USA | 90.00 | 800.00 |
3 | 4 | RIDDLE Mike | 1986 | CAN | 88.2 | 600.00 |
4 | 17 | WELLS Byron | 1992 | NZL | 84.4 | 500.00 |
5 | 2 | WISE David | 1990 | USA | 83.00 | 450.00 |
6 | 24 | PERKINS Tucker | 1991 | USA | 78.8 | 400.00 |
7 | 49 | CHRISTENSEN Joss | 1991 | USA | 74.8 | 360.00 |
8 | 21 | TSUDA Kentaro | 1983 | JPN | 56.6 | 320.00 |
9 | 15 | WELLS Josiah | 1990 | NZL | 34.4 | 290.00 |
10 | 8 | BOWMAN Noah | 1992 | CAN | 28.2 | 260.00 |
Rank | Bib | Name | Year | Nation | Result | Points |
1 | 5 | FAIVRE Virginie | 1982 | SUI | 80.8 | 1000.00 |
2 | 4 | GROENEWOUD Rosalind | 1989 | CAN | 79.00 | 800.00 |
3 | 18 | HANSEN Keltie | 1992 | CAN | 76.4 | 600.00 |
4 | 16 | MARTINOD Marie | 1984 | FRA | 74.4 | 500.00 |
5 | 6 | JAEGER Mirjam | 1982 | SUI | 70.6 | 450.00 |
6 | 10 | CARADEUX Anais | 1990 | FRA | 65.6 | 400.00 |
7 | 2 | ONOZUKA Ayana | 1988 | JPN | 62.2 | 360.00 |
8 | 19 | RAGETTLI Nina | 1993 | SUI | 57.2 | 320.00 |
9 | 14 | CRANE-MAUZY Jamie | 1992 | USA | 47.8 | 290.00 |
10 | 22 | VANLAANEN Angeli | 1985 | USA | 27.6 | 260.00 |