The Canadian Freestyle Ski Team capped a three-medal weekend today (Jan. 29) as aerialist Olivier Rochon of Gatineau, Quebec won his first World Cup on home snow in Calgary, A.B. China’s Xu Mengtao took the women’s win.

Conditions were extremely challenging on the jump site at Canada Olympic Park, with warm temperatures melting the kickers and variable wind conditions affecting the athletes’ ability to gauge their speed coming into the jumps.

Rochon, who’s goal at the beginning of the season was to win one World Cup medal this year – a feat he already managed three weeks ago with a silver in Quebec, managed to hold his focus through the shifting weather conditions and landed himself on top of the podium with a 125.67- point score.

“It was such a tough day, the sun was coming in and out which was changing the speed on the course,” said Rochon “When it was my turn to go I stepped down because the sun was behind a cloud, but I still got way more air than I expected. I went so huge in the air that I landed three-quarters of the way down the landing hill. But, I landed perfectly so it was all good.”

Rochon, who now has a firm grip on the FIS yellow leader’s bib, bested Guangpu Qi and Zhongqing Liu of China, they finished in second and third with scores of 124.43 and 119.03, respectively.

“It’s pretty amazing,” said Rochon, “My first World Cup gold medal and I earned it at home in Canada, I couldn’t imagine anything better.”

Dylan Ferguson led the American men in 9th ahead of teammate Jonathon Lillis in 12th and Scotty Bahrke in 18th.

On the women’s side, Xu took the gold with 98.52 points. Her teammate Shuang Cheng was second with a score of 92.35 and Olga Volkova of the Ukraine earned the bronze at 85.05.

American Emily Cook finished seventh with 78.9 points. Teammate Allison Lee finished 13th.

“We were really good in training today, but unfortunately we didn’t perform well in the competition,” said U.S. aerials head coach Todd Ossian. “We were well prepared for the conditions, but the weather being a little crazy does affect things.”

The aerial and mogul athletes compete next week in Deer Valley, UT.

“As a team, going into Deer Valley we’re looking really good. The biggest thing about Deer Valley is that it’s the best site, the most professional, and it has the biggest crowd,” said Ossian. “This is the most anticipated event of the season. It’s a huge confidence builder for the team.”

Click here for a full schedule of events at the Deer Valley World Cup.

Men's Results

Women's Results