Canada rules the skies

WEST VANCOUVER, B.C., February 10, 2008 – Foggy conditions made for a second straight long day in World Cup freestyle ski action. But this time, official winners emerged.

Dmitri Dashiniski, Steve Omischl and Warren Shouldice

Aerialists Steve Omischl of Kelowna, B.C., and Warren Shouldice of Calgary provided a 1-3 Canadian finish, as Omischl registered his 16th World Cup victory and Shouldice took the bronze.

The win was also the fourth in six starts this season for both Omischl and the winner of the women’s aerials, Jacqui Cooper of Australia.

Heavy fog had forced Saturday’s cancellation of the Canada Post Freestyle Grand Prix moguls events after most of the men completed the qualifying round at Cypress Mountain. The women never got out of the starting gate.

Fog was also a factor Sunday, but lifted mid-afternoon, in time to permit completion of the women’s qualifying round. Organizers then determined, due to lack of day light, that the men’s and women’s finals would be based on the qualifying rounds.

In capturing the 33rd World Cup medal of his career, Omischl bounced back from his season-low of ninth a week ago. He scored 120.13 points with his quad-twisting triple somersault. Shouldice took third in 117.92, the same score as second-place Dmitri Dashinski of Belarus.

“It was tough conditions,” said Omischl of the fog and low light conditions. Omischl admitted the win felt somewhat strange, since the men were preparing for a second round that never happened. “It feels a little anti-climatic, and I wanted to do a second jump for the crowd and the organizers,” said the native of North Bay, Ont.

With the win, Omischl has a commanding lead in the men’s overall aerials standings, with 489 points. Anton Kushnir of Belarus, in finishing fifth, sits second with 385. Shouldice, with the bronze medal, moves into seventh overall.

“It’s my first good event of the year,” said Shouldice, who joined Omischl on the podium for the first time. “I’ve been jumping well in training. But, as my coaches say, I haven’t been connecting the dots in competition.”

In the women’s final, Cooper scored 101.85 points with her triple-twisting triple somersault for the 23rd World Cup victory of her career. Australian team-mate Lydia Lassila was second in 95.17 and Shuangfei Dai of China third in 93.67.

Amber Peterson of Thunder Bay produced a season’s best eighth with a score of 83.00.
Deidra Dionne of Red Deer, Alta., was 12th and Veronika Bauer of Toronto 15th.

posted February 10, 2008