Kreischberg, Austria – The U.S. Freestyle Ski Team had an unbelievable day at the FIS Freestyle Ski World Championships in Kreischberg last week, with both Kiley McKinnon, of Madison, Conn., and Alex Bowen, of Springville, N.Y., taking home silver medals in aerials.
It was the first aerials medals for the USA since 2009 and first women’s since 1999. Ashley Caldwell, who landed atop the World Cup podium earlier this month at Deer Valley, finished fourth.
McKinnon was fresh off her second place result at the Visa Freestyle International World Cup at Deer Valley. This was the first World Championships medal for the U.S. women since Nikki Stone’s bronze in 1999. McKinnon finished behind Austrian Laura Peel, while Mengtao Xu from China took third.
Alex Bowen, who had his highest result in a World Cup in Deer Valley—sixth place—had never broken into the top five at a World Cup before this event. Guangpu Qi of China took first place and Maxim Gustik was third.
OFFICIAL RESULTS
FIS Freestyle Ski World Championships
Kreischberg, Austria
Jan. 15, 2015
Men’s Aerials
|
RK
|
BIB
|
NAME
|
NAT
|
DD | BEST | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Guangpu Qi | CHN | 5.000 | 139.50 | |
| 2 | 14 | Alex Bowen | USA | 4.525 | 121.27 | |
| 3 | 7 | Maxim Gustik | BLR | 4.525 | 119.91 | |
| 4 | 3 | Hang Zhou | CHN | 4.525 | 115.84 | |
| 5 | 5 | Ilya Burov | RUS | 4.525 | 106.79 | |
| 6 | 12 | Zongyang Jia | CHN | 4.525 | 90.50 |
Women’s Aerials
|
RK
|
BIB
|
NAME
|
NAT
|
DD | BEST | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11 | Laura Peel | AUS | 3.525 | 88.47 | |
| 2 | 2 | Kiley Mckinnon | USA | 3.525 | 88.12 | |
| 3 | 1 | Mengtao Xu | CHN | 4.175 | 86.84 | |
| 4 | 5 | Ashley Caldwell | USA | 4.050 | 79.78 | |
| 5 | 4 | Danielle Scott | AUS | 3.525 | 70.14 | |
| 6 | 9 | Hanna Huskova | BLR | 3.525 | 69.09 |