Ruka, Finland – Olympic champion Hannah Kearney, of Norwich, Vt., opened her defense of the FIS Freestyle World Cup title with a strong win in Finland as three Americans made it to the podium on a cold and windy Saturday in Ruka. Eliza Outtrim was second behind Kearney while Sho Kashima, of S. Lake Tahoe, Calif., finished runnerup to Canada’s Mikael Kingsbury for his first career podium.

Saturday’s competition was the first time a scaled-back version of the new FIS Olympic format was used in competition. Instead of the previous format of one qualification run and then one final run, the top four finalists had a third “super final” run, where their scores were rewound to zero, to determine who would earn the top spot.

“I didn’t exactly know what to expect from the new format, mainly because I had no concerns with the old format,” Kearney explained. “In the back of my mind, I was trying to save something for the finals. My second run was the worst of the day. I had to salvage my bottom jump and disguised it well and stayed in front. There’s a little bit more of a physical component – conditioning helps. I now have no complaints.

“I did a layout on top and and mute grab on bottom air. It was first time all day I got the grab,” Kearney said of her winning run. “Landing wasn’t the cleansest but actually did the mute grab. I had the fastest time on every run, which wasn’t the case last year. I skied very little this summer because I wanted to spend as much time as possible working with Bergie (aerials coach and Olympic champion Eric Bergoust) – and a big thanks to him. I didn’t do Bergie too proud but I got the win.”

It was Kearney’s eighth straight moguls win, and she was undefeated in individual moguls last season. Kearney led six American women into the top 12, including a career best sixth for Heidi Kloser (Vai, Colo.), a career best 11th for K.C. Oakley (Piedmont, Calif.), and a career best 12th for Brittany Loweree (Point Lookout, N.Y.) in her first European World Cup event.

Montreal’s Chloé Dufour-Lapointe was the top Canadian woman in seventh position. She was joined in the final by her sister, Maxime, who finished ninth at 20.69 and Spruce Grove, Alberta’s Chelsea Henitiuk who finished 13^th at 19.74.

The Canadians, however, earned the spotlight in the men’s competition as Kingsbury earned the podium’s top spot. The 19-year-old from Deux-Montagnes, Quebec, easily took the win with a final round score of 25.00.

“I knew what I had to do. I knew I needed to ski fast and I knew I didn’t need my biggest tricks to make finals,” he explained. Instead of pulling out his double back full and his cork 1080, Kingsbury downgraded to his reliable back full and cork 720 to win every run of the three-round competition. “Because I was first in the first final heat, I got to ski last in the super final. And, from hearing the scores of the other three guys, I knew they had all messed up a little so I didn’t have to push too hard, but I still went full speed on my last run, because for me that’s the easiest way to go.”

Kashima, however, was far from disappointed for his first career podium result ahead of France’s Anthony Benna, who took the bronze medal.

“It was kind of a surprise but a really nice finish,” he said. “I didn’t go to Zermatt (Switzerland) camp and competing from the C team and the way I skied last year, the confidence wasn’t there. But starting off this season healthy and being able to train this summer full on – hopefully this will be a great season.”

Kashima led four American men into the top 10, including a ninth-place finish for Butte, Mont.’s Bradley Wilson in his first World Cup competition. Other Canadian men in Saturday’s final were Quebec City’s Philippe Marquis who finished an impressive fifth, after a full season off last year, at 23.92. Terrebonne, Quebec native Marc-Antoine Gagnon was 11^th at 22.76 and Cedric Rochon from St. Sauveur, Quebec was 15^th at 17.19.

After Saturday’s competition the U.S. Team stayed in Ruka to train for several days before heading to opening dual moguls World Cup in Meribel, France.

OFFICIAL RESULTS
FIS Freestyle Skiing World Cup
Ruka, Finland – Dec. 10, 2011
Single Moguls

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