Canadian skiers nab 3 medals in World Cup moguls
Four Canadian men finish in Top 5
Considering how his day started, Canada's Alex Bilodeau was happy with a podium finish Saturday.
The freestyle skier from Rosemere, Que., rebounded from a rough qualification round to win silver at the World Cup dual moguls event.
Canadian freestyle skiing team celebrates on Twitter
- Alex Bilodeau (@ABilodeau_ski) 2nd at the World Cup in Austria. Congrats to my team mate also: @MikaelKingsbury @JDufourLapointe @MarquisPhil @MAGagnon06
- Mikael Kingsbury (@MikaelKingsbury) 3rd today at the World Cup in Kreschberg !! 16 podiums in a row
- Justine Dufour-Lapointe (@JDufourLapointe) 3rd Place today at Kreschberg, Austria! Really proud of myself, now i'm ready to come back home!
- Philippe Marquis (@MarquisPhil) 4th place finish in Kreischberg WC. Going big paid off! Congrats to our strong @canfreestyleski team once again!
- Marc-Antoine Gagnon (@MAGagnon06) 5th place at the Austrian WC today. Congratulation to all the team for a great day @canfreestyleski
Bryon Wilson of the U.S. beat Bilodeau in the men's final, while defending World Cup champion Mikael Kingsbury of Deux-Montagnes, Que., was third.
Meanwhile in the women's event, Montreal's Justine Dufour-Lapointe took bronze behind Americans Heather McPhie and Heidi Kloser.
Bilodeau, who took last season off, said he was lucky just to make the 16-man final.
"I got a pretty good gift in the morning," he said of his 13th place qualification run. "I didn't ski well in qualifiers, but I got to go to finals and I made the best out of it.
"All of this just shows me there's still place for improvement. I don't know if it's that I'm not really comfortable with racing, it's been a while, I don't know if that's the case, but there's still stuff I want to improve."
Regaining control
In the final, Bilodeau lost control during the middle section of the final dual and was forced to throw a huge double-daffy off the final kicker instead of his signature back flip.
Kingsbury, who beat Quebec City's Philippe Marquis for third, lost a dramatic semifinal dual with Bilodeau when he lost control and caught an edge.
"Alex and I went pretty all out in our dual, with two big back fulls on top. I think Alex blew out a little and I kept going, but then I caught an edge before the final air and went forward," said Kingsbury, who has won medals at 16 straight events. "Losing control like that is not the kind of thing I do normally, but we were going all out, just a little too fast for both of us."
Despite the third-place finish Kingsbury retains the yellow leader's bib but is now tied on points with Bilodeau after two competitions.
Marc-Antoine Gagnon of Terrebonne, Que., was fifth, while Cedric Rochon of St. Sauveur, Que., was 10th.
'I really pushed myself and gave it everything I had.' — Montreal skier Justine Dufour-Lapointe after winning bronze
On the women's side, Dufour-Lapointe edged Australia's Britney Cox for the bronze after losing out to McPhie in the semis.
"Against (McPhie) I really pushed myself and gave it everything I had," said the 18-year-old Dufour-Lapointe, the youngest of three sisters on the moguls tour. "When I finished the race I really thought I won, I'm not exactly sure what happened. I'll have to look at the video."
Chloe Dufour-Lapointe finished sixth, Chelsea Henitiuk of Spruce Grove, Alta., was ninth, Audrey Robichaud of Quebec City was 11th, Andi Naude of Penticton, B.C. was 13th and Maxime Dufour-Lapointe was 16th.