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Ierodiaconou claims gold as Camplin falls in qualifying

 

Ierodiaconou claims gold as Camplin falls in qualifying

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AOC

Australian skier Lydia Ierodiaconou has stepped up to win the second event of the Alpine Exposure World Aerials at Mt Buller after team-mate Alisa Camplin crashed out of the competition in the qualifying round.

Australian skier Lydia Ierodiaconou has stepped up to win the second event of the Alpine Exposure World Aerials at Mt Buller after team-mate Alisa Camplin crashed out of the competition in the qualifying round.

Ierodiaconou landed two triple twisting double somersaults in brilliant style to defeat Canadian Veronika Bauer, with Saturday’s opening round winner, Nannan Xu of China, in third place.

Ierodiaconou, who claimed a bronze medal in the opening round, scored 190.10 points, less than one point clear of Bauer on 189.21.

It was the second Suzuki Freestyle FIS World Cup victory for the 21-year-old Digger’s Rest skier, who is in just her third season on the circuit.

“Before her second jump I didn’t think about ‘OK, I could win this’ I just thought ‘Think about the trick. Think about the trick that you’ve done millions of times and you can do it’ and I think that was the difference between yesterday and today,” Ierodiaconou said.

“I wasn’t anxious that I hadn’t really trained that well but at the same time it kind of pumped me up a little bit more to think about the skill and think about the trick I had to do.”

“I think if I’m a bit nervous the landings get a bit shonky, but I’m going to work on that and I’m definitely learning every day and it’s mine today, I can enjoy it and I want to enjoy a lot more, too.”

Ierodiaconou rated the win ahead of her debut victory on the circuit in Europe last season.

“This is more important I think because it’s at home and more of my family and friends are here. The one in the Czech Republic my mum and dad and my brother did make it and that was great that they were there, but this is a lot more pressure to do well because there are more friends and family.”

The result puts Ierodiaconou into equal first place on 160 points with Xu on the Suzuki Freestyle FIS World Cup standings after the opening two events, with Camplin in fourth place on 98 points thanks to her second placing in yesterday’s event.

Camplin’s fall was particularly heavy, the reigning Olympic champion misjudging her speed of rotation in the air, somersaulting down the landing hill and ending the day with a bruised shoulder blade and ribs, but counting herself lucky not to have suffered further injury.
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After competing in 12 Alpine Exposure World Aerials events at her home mountain, Camplin has collected four silver medals, but is yet to claim her first victory.

“I thought I was going too fast so I opened up to slow myself down but then I didn’t get a chance to see the landing,” Camplin said.

“If I had realized I was so close I could have tried to do something about it.”

Ierodiaconou had qualified in equal first place with Bauer, both scoring 95.8 points for their opening triple twisting double somersaults.

Up-and-coming Aussie Bree Munro posted her best World Cup result yet with a 13th placing, missing her first final by just one place, while fellow Flying Kangaroo Liz Gardner was ruled out of competition after suffering concussion in a training fall yesterday.

In the men’s competition, Canadian Steve Omischl made it two wins in two days, edging out Dmitri Dashinski of Belarus and Martin Walti of Switzerland.



Results
Women’s
1. Lydia Ierodiaconou Australia 190.10 points
2. Veronika Bauer Canada 189.21
3. Nannan Xu China 180.66

Men’s
1 Steve Omischl Canada 242.63 points
2. Dmitri Daschinki Belarus 245.00
3. Martin Walti Switzerland 232.05

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