Australian moguls skier Dale Begg-Smith has pushed his winning run to three consecutive World Cups, taking gold in Madonna di Campiglio, Italy.
Australian moguls skier Dale Begg-Smith has pushed his winning run to three consecutive World Cups, taking gold in Madonna di Campiglio, Italy.
In the penultimate event before the Torino Games, Begg-Smith scored 26.66 points to defeat the Finnish duo of Sami Mustonen on 25.75 points and Janne Lahtela on 25.72 points.
And in another strong pre-Olympic performance, Manuela Berchtold skied to her first top ten result for the season and the second best placing of her career, finishing ninth.
Begg-Smith was well back in the qualifying round, finishing in sixth place behind the leading run of Lahtela, the Salt Lake 2002 gold medallist.
But in the final the 20-year-old Australian was again the supreme performer in the turns, scoring 14.6 out of a maximum 15 points, and also receiving the highest jump points to claim his fourth victory for the season.
The result stretched Begg-Smith's lead on the World Cup standings, taking him to 505 points, 169 ahead of Canadian Alexandre Bilodeau.
Olympic Winter Institute team-mate Michael Robertson was the next best of the Australians, finishing in 44th place, with Jason Begg-Smith in 51st position and Nick Fisher in 56th.
Defending World Cup champion Jennifer Heil of Canada collected the women's gold.
Another World Cup event will be contested in Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic, next weekend.
In the penultimate event before the Torino Games, Begg-Smith scored 26.66 points to defeat the Finnish duo of Sami Mustonen on 25.75 points and Janne Lahtela on 25.72 points.
And in another strong pre-Olympic performance, Manuela Berchtold skied to her first top ten result for the season and the second best placing of her career, finishing ninth.
Begg-Smith was well back in the qualifying round, finishing in sixth place behind the leading run of Lahtela, the Salt Lake 2002 gold medallist.
But in the final the 20-year-old Australian was again the supreme performer in the turns, scoring 14.6 out of a maximum 15 points, and also receiving the highest jump points to claim his fourth victory for the season.
The result stretched Begg-Smith's lead on the World Cup standings, taking him to 505 points, 169 ahead of Canadian Alexandre Bilodeau.
Olympic Winter Institute team-mate Michael Robertson was the next best of the Australians, finishing in 44th place, with Jason Begg-Smith in 51st position and Nick Fisher in 56th.
Defending World Cup champion Jennifer Heil of Canada collected the women's gold.
Another World Cup event will be contested in Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic, next weekend.
