Roberts, Torito podium in Are moguls event

By Published On: March 7th, 2008Comments Off on Roberts, Torito podium in Are moguls event

Dale Begg-Smith of Australia and Aiko Uemura of Japan closed in on the overall titles by winning the moguls Friday at a World Cup freestyle meet.

ARE, Sweden — Dale Begg-Smith of Australia and Aiko Uemura of Japan closed in on the overall titles by winning the moguls Friday at a World Cup freestyle meet.   
    Begg-Smith, the Olympic champion, had 25.94 points to edge Nate Roberts of the United States with 25.88 in the men's final down the 210-meter Slalombacken course.
    Begg-Smith moved to 539 points in the overall standings. Guilbaut Colas of France, who wound up 11th, is second with 448 points. A win is worth 100 points. Two events are left.
    Alexandre Bilodeau of Canada, who finished sixth, kept third place overall (355 points) followed by Roberts (331).
    "It was good. I've had a rough year according to my standards and how I've competed in the last couple of years, but it's definitely a marathon and not a sprint," Roberts said. "Having a decent finish in Japan helped my confidence. I'm just getting out there and skiing the way I know how. If I do that it works out well."
    Roberts, who was second at the Czech Republic World Cup last Saturday, threw a back full and a back flip-cross to land his podium spot. Roberts, who moved up to fourth in the World Cup standings, led four U.S. men into the top 10 including rookie Jimmy Discoe who's seventh-place finish was his career best.
    Uemura beat Kristi Richards of Canada 24.43 points to 23.73 in the women's final. Emiko Torito of the United States placed third for her third consecutive event.
    "This is the most consistent I've ever been. I feel like I'm starting to build some confidence and every time I do well it grows," Torito said. "It would be cool to be first or second but I feel happy with any World Cup podium. It's my first year making regular podiums and it feels good."
    Uemura tops the standings with 483 points, 83 ahead of Nikola Sudova of the Czech Republic, who finished fourth.
    Dual moguls are scheduled for Saturday at Are.

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About the Author: Pete Rugh