Dale Begg-Smith has become the world's number one moguls skier following his second World Cup victory of the season.
Dale Begg-Smith has become the world's number one moguls skier following his second World Cup victory of the season.
The 20-year-old Olympic Winter Institute athlete skied conservatively to qualify for the Lake Placid final in fourth place, then stepped up the pace and the quality of his turns to leapfrog the opposition and claim the gold, confirming his status as one of Australia's leading medal hopes in Torino in the process.
Begg-Smith scored 26.71 points, with Canadian Alexandre Bilodeau in second place on 26.4 points and US skier Toby Dawson in third on 25.89 points.
The result put the Australian on top of the World Cup points table with 305 points, 27 points clear of Bilodeau on 278.
Michael Robertson finished in 12th place, his second finals appearance for the season, while team-mates Nick Fisher and Jason Begg-Smith both fulfilled the Australian Olympic Committee qualification requirements for places in the Torino 2006 Games team by finishing in 20th and 22nd place respectively.
The result means that Australia will field maximum size teams in Torino in women's aerial skiing and men;s moguls.
With Australian snowboarders Mitch Allan and Ben Mates also meeting the AOC qualification requirements in halfpipe over the weekend, the likely team size for Torino has now grown to 39 members, eight more than the record size of 31 set at the 1960 Games.
Australia's aerial skiers will compete in Lake Place on Sunday morning AEDT, with a second moguls event scheduled for Monday morning AEDT.
The 20-year-old Olympic Winter Institute athlete skied conservatively to qualify for the Lake Placid final in fourth place, then stepped up the pace and the quality of his turns to leapfrog the opposition and claim the gold, confirming his status as one of Australia's leading medal hopes in Torino in the process.
Begg-Smith scored 26.71 points, with Canadian Alexandre Bilodeau in second place on 26.4 points and US skier Toby Dawson in third on 25.89 points.
The result put the Australian on top of the World Cup points table with 305 points, 27 points clear of Bilodeau on 278.
Michael Robertson finished in 12th place, his second finals appearance for the season, while team-mates Nick Fisher and Jason Begg-Smith both fulfilled the Australian Olympic Committee qualification requirements for places in the Torino 2006 Games team by finishing in 20th and 22nd place respectively.
The result means that Australia will field maximum size teams in Torino in women's aerial skiing and men;s moguls.
With Australian snowboarders Mitch Allan and Ben Mates also meeting the AOC qualification requirements in halfpipe over the weekend, the likely team size for Torino has now grown to 39 members, eight more than the record size of 31 set at the 1960 Games.
Australia's aerial skiers will compete in Lake Place on Sunday morning AEDT, with a second moguls event scheduled for Monday morning AEDT.
