At Finals, Omischl and Camplin keep on winning in aerials

By Published On: June 7th, 2004Comments Off on At Finals, Omischl and Camplin keep on winning in aerials

At Finals, Omischl and Camplin keep on winning in aerials{mosimage}Steve Omischl and Alisa Camplin did Wednesday what they’ve been doing all season long and took the aerials titles at the freestyle World Cup Finals.

The Canadian and the Aussie nailed their respective second jumps to win on a temporary course in Sauze d’Oulx. For Omischl, it was his sixth victory of the season and the seventh for Camplin.

Both had wrapped up their respective overall titles before heading to Sauze d’Oulx, site of the 2006 Winter Olympic Games, but neither wanted to ease up the intensity.

“I know I already had the overall, but I wanted to end the season on a high note,” said Camplin. “I had seven wins this season; that puts me in pretty prestigious company. It was a hard event. It’s been chaotic, to say the least. But it’s good to get a taste of what’s in store for 2006.”

Camplin was third after the first jump, but nailed her triple-back twist-double twist jump to claim the victory. Swiss jumper Evelyne Leu was leading after the first jump, but couldn’t manage her landing in the second jump. Australian Elizabeth Gardner took third.

Sharlee Strebel was the only American to make the finals and finished ninth. She couldn’t pin her landing in either jump and smacked her head backward quite hard on the second jump.

In the men’s field, Omischl marked the best second jump to cap an emotional day to win six out of 12 races this season.

“I was nervous because I wanted to go out in the last event with an exclamation point, just to prove to any nay-sayers that I was the best this season,” he said. “Winning the World Cup globe is like winning the Olympics or the world championships, but it’s even better because it proves you’re consistently the best.”

Russian Dmitry Arkhipov was leading after the first jump, but hip-checked his landing in the second jump to lose valuable points. Belorussian Dmitri Dashinski had a great second jump, but was fifth in the first jump.

Joe Pack was in the back seat on both of his landings and finished a disappointing eighth.

“I went way too big in both jumps,” Pack said. “I’m sort of satisfied with this season. I came back from some injuries and I had a few good results. I finished fifth this year; I was fourth last year, so that was OK.”

Mostly clear skies and light winds welcomed the jumpers. Local race officials built a temporary venue entirely of snow higher up on the mountain. The Olympic venue is still under construction and will be debuted during a test event in 2004-05.

Freestyle World Cup Finals
Sauze d’Oulx, Italy
Women’s Aerials

1. Alisa Camplin (Aus) Jump 1: bdFF 83.24, Jump 2: bFdF 90.17 = 173.41
2. Evelyne Leu (Swi) Jump 1: bLTF 93.97, Jump 2: dLFF 70.30 = 164.27
3. Elizabeth Gardner (Aus) Jump 1: bFF 71.50; Jump 2: bFdF 82.00 = 153.50
4. Veronika Bauer (Can) = 153.32
5. Anna Zukal (Rus) = 147.33
6. Nina Li (Chn) = 140.58
7. Jiao Wang (Chn) = 105.25
8. Lydia Ierodiaconoli (Aus) = 95.84
9. Sharlee Strebel (USA) = 90.43

Men’s Aerials
1. Steve Omischl (Can) Jump 1: bFdFF 118.81, Jump 2: bLdFF 126.00 = 244.81
2. Dmitry Arkhipov (Rus) Jump 1: bFdFF 123.26, Jump 2: bFFF 112.99 = 236.25
3. Dmitri Dashinski (Blr) Jump 1: bFdFF 109.91, Jump 2: bLdFF 124.74 = 234.65
4. Alexei Grichin (Blr) = 225.41
5. Kyle Nissen (Can) = 218.49
6. Ales Valenta (Cze) = 209.58
7. Xiatao Ou (Chn) = 188.45
8. Joe Pack (USA) = 167.11
9. Sen Qui (Chn) = 162.20
10. Martin Walti (Sui) = 58.82

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About the Author: Pete Rugh