Canada's Marion Thénault soars to World Cup aerials gold in Quebec
Sherbrooke, Que., native won silver in World Cup opener in December
Canadian aerials skier Marion Thénault won gold on home snow at the World Cup event in Le Relais, Que., on Saturday.
The 22-year-old opened with a score of 90.24 on her first jump — best of the round — then secured gold with the highest-scoring jump of the day at 96.23.
The Sherbrooke, Que., native won silver in the World Cup opener in Ruka, Finland in December, and she secured an individual top-10 finish in her Olympic debut last February.
The gold medal vaults her into first place in the World Cup standings ahead of Australia's Danielle Scott, who won gold over Thénault in Finland, but placed eighth on Saturday.
WATCH | Thénault captures World Cup gold in Quebec:
Ashley Caldwell of the United States was the only other skier to break the 90-point plateau on the day with a score of 92.00 on her second jump, winning silver for her efforts.
Ukraine's Anastasiya Novosad secured bronze with a final jump of 86.71.
16-year-old Rosalie Gagnon was the only other Canadian to crack the top-12 in the event, slotting in at 11th with an opening-round jump of 42.90.
In the men's competition, Quebec City's Lewis Irving was the highest ranking Canadian in fifth place, finishing with a score of 80.00 on his final jump.
Quinn Dehlinger of the United States took gold with a second-round jump of 122.62, while Noe Roth of Switzerland secured silver with a final jump of 121.24.
Ukraine added its second bronze medal of the day when Dmytro Kotovskyi recorded a score of 120.81.
Canadians Victor Primeau, Alexandre Duchaine and Emile Nadeau finished ninth through 11th, respectively, failing to make the cut of six for the last round.
Miha Fontaine, Gabriel Dion, Nicolas Martineau, Anthony Noel and Pierre Olivier-Cote were eliminated in qualifying.
Nadeau and Primeau rank ninth and 10th, respectivel,y in the overall World Cup standings.
