CFSA ♦ Photo: Canadian moguls skiers Audrey Robichaud, Chelsea Henitiuk, Justine Dufour-Lapointe, Alexandra Dufresne, Chloe Dufour-Lapointe and Maxime Dufour-Lapionte in Japan at the World Cup (CFSA)
NAEBA, Japan — Audrey Robichaud stopped American Hannah Kearney’s 16-win streak en route to her first FIS World Cup victory Sunday.
Quebec City’s Robichaud took on Kearney in the semifinals and then went on to beat Japan’s Aiko Uemura in the finals. Miki Ito, also of Japan, was third, beating Kearney in the small final.
“I can’t believe it myself,” said Robichaud from the finish area. “I was actually pretty nervous in the gate against Hannah, Marc (coach Marc-Andre Moreau) told me to be the first out of the gate, so that’s what I did. I really don’t know what happened next, I got to the bottom and was happy I skied strong, then I heard that I beat her. Later I heard that she made a little mistake in her run.”
Robichaud, who earned the silver medal Saturday in the singles competition, added, “I’m really, really, really happy right now. I seriously cannot believe it myself. Now I just want to keep my good rhythm. I’m feeling really good about my skiing and my jumping and I’m really excited for the rest of the season.”
Other Canadian women who advanced to finals included Justine Dufour-Lapointe of Montreal, who finished fifth after losing a dual to Ito. Chloe Dufour-Lapointe was ninth; Chelsea Henitiuk of Spruce Grove, Alta., was 12th and Alexandra Dufresne of Lorraine, Que., was 15th.
Maxime Dufour-Lapointe and Beatrice Bilodeau failed to advance to finals. They finished 22nd and 24th, respectively.
On the men’s side American Patrick Deneen edged Mikael Kingsbury in the final dual of the night. Philippe Marquis took the bronze after beating Bradley Wilson of the US.
“I made some mistakes just before my bottom air on my finals run. We were going pretty fast and I saw Patrick out of the corner of my eye so I pushed it just a little too hard,” explained Kingsbury, “But I heard it was pretty close.”
The Deux-Montagnes, Que., native, who has medalled in every event this season, clinched the FIS moguls crystal globe with his win Saturday — the fifth Canadian man to accomplish this feat in the past 32 years (Greg Athans ’80, Bill Keenan ’83, Jean-Luc Brassard ’93, ’96, ’97, and Alex Bilodeau 2009). The 19-year-old said, “It’s pretty crazy, like a dream come true. I won’t believe it until I have the globe in my hand.”
For his part, Marquis was thrilled to be on the podium for the third time this year (he took bronze in Lake Placid and silver last week in China). It wasn’t an easy night for the Quebec City native who went up against teammates Cedric Rochon of St. Sauveur, Que., and Kingsbury on his way to the podium. Rochon followed his third place victory yesterday with a 13th place finish.
“Going against Cedric in the first round, both of us were in our bubble, like we were going against anyone. But against Mik I was less stressed, we said good luck to each other at the top and and bumped fists,” said Marquis.
Marquis added what many of the competitors here were feeling after 10 World Cup races already this season. “I was so tired, a month of traveling.” He explained, “When I got to the small final against Wilson I hoped I didn’t do two extra runs for nothing, so I took all the energy I had left pushed it.”
It was the third competition in a row where all five Canadian men qualified for the 16-man finals.
Eddie Hicks of Langley, B.C., was sixth after besting Finland’s Ville Miettunen in the round of 16 and then losing to Kingsbury. Terrebonne, Que.’s Marc-Antoine Gagnon was 7th after beating Sweden’s Per Spett in the first round and then losing to Deneen in the quarterfinals.
The World Cup circuit continues next week with an aerial event in Minsk, Belarus on Feb. 25. The mogul and aerial squads will compete next in a Europa Cup on the Sochi, Russia Olympic courses March 4 & 5.
Naeba men's World Cup dual moguls results
Naeba women's World Cup dual moguls results
