Canada's Lewis Irving lands 1st podium finish at World Cup aerials
CBC Sports | Posted: December 16, 2017 3:01 PM | Last Updated: December 16, 2017
22-year-old at a loss for words after coming away with bronze in China
Canadian aerialist Lewis Irving now has a podium finish to add to his resume after scoring a bronze medal at the World Cup event in Secret Garden, China, on Saturday.
The Quebec City native earned a score of 103.68 on his final run to secure third place. Zongyang Jia scored the top mark of 127.88 on home soil, while Maxim Gustik of Belarus was second at 117.26.
Lewis, who was crowned as the FIS aerial rookie of the year in 2016, hopes this bronze-medal performance is just the beginning.
"It feels awesome," said Lewis. "This is my first podium, so hopefully more to come but it feels great. I'm kind of at a loss for words right now."
The 22-year-old also said this takes some weight off his shoulders for the rest of the season as he aims to qualify for the Olympics.
Furthermore, Lewis feels that the energy from the crowd made the moment even more special.
"For me personally I feel like it's a big confidence boost," Lewis said. "When you have a lot of people down there, I don't find that it's much of a stress factor ... [it] just adds a little bonus and helps to feel better with everything."