Chinese skier Nannan Xu has upstaged local pair Alisa Camplin and Lydia Ierodiaconou to take out today’s opening round of the Alpine Exposure World Aerials at Mt Buller.
Chinese skier Nannan Xu has upstaged local pair Alisa Camplin and Lydia Ierodiaconou to take out today’s opening round of the Alpine Exposure World Aerials at Mt Buller.
The Australian duo, first and second on the World Cup last season, took the minor medals behind Xu.
The 1998 Olympic silver medallist went into the final in third place but handled the conditions a little better than her Australian rivals, landing an outstanding second jump to make up a deficit of seven points on Camplin.
It is Xu’s third win on the Suzuki Freestyle FIS World Cup circuit.
Olympic and World champion Camplin was the last to jump in the 12-skier final after posting the best qualifying score of 97.27 while Ierodiaconou went into the final hot on her compatriot’s heels after scoring 92.30 in the morning.
Xu scored 90.24 points with her first jump and then 90.52 in the final for a total of 180.76, while Camplin’s second jump was marked down by the judges after a shaky landing and her score of 82.84 saw her claim the silver medal with a total of 180.11.
It is the fourth time that Camplin has taken silver at Mt Buller and she is yet to win at her home resort.
Ierodiaconou, ranked second in the world behind Flying Kangaroo teammate Camplin, was superb in the air during her second jump but lost her balance on landing and her score of 82.36, for a two-jump total of 174.66, gave her the bronze medal.
Fellow Australian Liz Gardner qualified for the final in tenth place, but had to pull out after a fall in training left her with concussion.
Conditions deteriorated during the men’s final as heavy snow began to fall. Canadian Steve Omischl took full advantage of jumping first in the final in calm weather, then watched as several of the leading contenders crashed out.
Omischl, who only qualified for the final in 12th place, landed one of the jumps of the day to set a benchmark of 231.88, which held up as the four of the remaining 11 skiers – including Russian World Champion Dmitri Arkhipov and 2002 Olympic gold medallist Ales Valenta – crashed badly.
The 24-year-old Canadian registered the third World Cup win of his career by just half a point from China’s Xiaotao Ou (231.39), with Swiss skier Christian Kaufmann, the 11th-best qualifier for the final, taking the bronze medal (223.99).
The second round of the 12-event 2003/04 Suzuki Freestyle FIS World Cup season will be held at Mt Buller tomorrow.
The Australian duo, first and second on the World Cup last season, took the minor medals behind Xu.
The 1998 Olympic silver medallist went into the final in third place but handled the conditions a little better than her Australian rivals, landing an outstanding second jump to make up a deficit of seven points on Camplin.
It is Xu’s third win on the Suzuki Freestyle FIS World Cup circuit.
Olympic and World champion Camplin was the last to jump in the 12-skier final after posting the best qualifying score of 97.27 while Ierodiaconou went into the final hot on her compatriot’s heels after scoring 92.30 in the morning.
Xu scored 90.24 points with her first jump and then 90.52 in the final for a total of 180.76, while Camplin’s second jump was marked down by the judges after a shaky landing and her score of 82.84 saw her claim the silver medal with a total of 180.11.
It is the fourth time that Camplin has taken silver at Mt Buller and she is yet to win at her home resort.
Ierodiaconou, ranked second in the world behind Flying Kangaroo teammate Camplin, was superb in the air during her second jump but lost her balance on landing and her score of 82.36, for a two-jump total of 174.66, gave her the bronze medal.
Fellow Australian Liz Gardner qualified for the final in tenth place, but had to pull out after a fall in training left her with concussion.
Conditions deteriorated during the men’s final as heavy snow began to fall. Canadian Steve Omischl took full advantage of jumping first in the final in calm weather, then watched as several of the leading contenders crashed out.
Omischl, who only qualified for the final in 12th place, landed one of the jumps of the day to set a benchmark of 231.88, which held up as the four of the remaining 11 skiers – including Russian World Champion Dmitri Arkhipov and 2002 Olympic gold medallist Ales Valenta – crashed badly.
The 24-year-old Canadian registered the third World Cup win of his career by just half a point from China’s Xiaotao Ou (231.39), with Swiss skier Christian Kaufmann, the 11th-best qualifier for the final, taking the bronze medal (223.99).
The second round of the 12-event 2003/04 Suzuki Freestyle FIS World Cup season will be held at Mt Buller tomorrow.
