Freestyle: David doubles up on globes in La Plagne
Can anything stop French ski cross racer Ophelie David?
The 32-year-old, three-time X Games champ wrapped her hands around her third (2009, 2008, 2006) overall globe at the Freestyle World Cup Finals in La Plagne, France today. Oh yeah; she also grabbed her sixth consecutive ski cross title trophy to keep it company. That’s nine shiny little worlds she can call her own, four more than American alpine great Lindsey Vonn, for now.
David’s name has been synonyms with winning since the World Cup birth of ski cross in 2003. And today, the season’s final day of World Cup freestyle competition, was no different as she cruised to her 20th career win ahead of Canadian Kelsey Serwa in second and Switzerland’s Emilie Serain in third.Can anything stop French ski cross racer Ophelie David?
The 32-year-old, three-time X Games champ wrapped her hands around her third (2009, 2008, 2006) overall globe at the Freestyle World Cup Finals in La Plagne, France today. Oh yeah; she also grabbed her sixth consecutive ski cross title trophy to keep it company. That’s nine shiny little worlds she can call her own, four more than American alpine great Lindsey Vonn, for now.
David’s name has been synonyms with winning since the World Cup birth of ski cross in 2003. And today, the season’s final day of World Cup freestyle competition, was no different as she cruised to her 20th career win ahead of Canadian Kelsey Serwa in second and Switzerland’s Emilie Serain in third.
It was David’s sixth World Cup win of the season, her lowest two finishes were a pair of fourth-places in Cypress and St. Johann. Her nearest competitor in the ski cross standings was Austrian Katharina Gutensohn, 331 points behind. American moguls skier Hannah Kearney gave chase in the overall race, putting up 71 points to David’s 86. Canadian moguls specialist Jennifer Heil finished third overall with 64 points.
The trend continued in the men’s race as season-long leader Tomas Kraus of the Czech Republic took home today’s victory and the 2009 ski cross title, his fourth in five years. Three wins and ten top-ten finishes in as many races sealed the deal.
Switzerland’s Armin Niederer took today’s sliver medal, followed by Canadian X Games champ Stanley Hayer in third. American Casey Puckett landed in ninth for his sixth top-ten finish of the year. His U.S.-leading best result was a second-place showing in Flaine, France in January.
“It was a tough race and a tough hill. It was steeper than normal for ski cross,” U.S. ski cross head coach Tyler Shepherd said. “The race could have gone better, obviously, because we didn’t get the podium. But, it was a good day in that Casey moved up a spot in the rankings and finished fourth in the overall.”
Canadian Christopher DelBosco finished 112 points behind Kraus in the ski cross overall standings. Sweden’s Lars Lewen finished third.
Kraus finished the season in third in the freestyle World Cup overall standings behind winner, Canadian moguls skier Alexandre Bilodeau in first and his countryman, aerialist Steve Omischl in second. The highest-ranking American man at season’s end was aerialist Ryan St. Onge in fifth.
The American moguls and halfpipe skiers now head to Squaw Valley, Cali for the Sprint U.S. Freestyle Championships, March 27-29.
Women’s Results:
| Rank | Bib | FIS Code | Name | Year | Nation | Result | Level | Points |
| 1 | 2394866 | DAVID Ophelie | 1976 | FRA | 1000.00 | |||
| 2 | 2527273 | SERWA Kelsey | 1989 | CAN | 800.00 | |||
| 3 | 2404469 | SERAIN Emilie | 1984 | SUI | 600.00 | |||
| 4 | 2446955 | GRAUVOGL Alexandra | 1981 | GER | 500.00 | |||
| 5 | 2387882 | CLINE Aleisha | 1970 | CAN | 450.00 | |||
| 6 | 2484707 | GUTENSOHN Katharina | 1966 | AUT | 400.00 | |||
| 7 | 2526015 | OFNER Katrin | 1990 | AUT | 360.00 | |||
| 8 | 2484802 | KVINLOG Gro | 1976 | NOR | 320.00 | |||
| 9 | 2484439 | MCIVOR Ashleigh | 1983 | CAN | 290.00 | |||
| 10 | 2526237 | JOSSERAND Marion | 1986 | FRA | 260.00 | |||
| 11 | 2324342 | BERNTSEN Hedda | 1976 | NOR | 240.00 | |||
| 12 | 2415721 | BOULANGEAT Meryl | 1986 | FRA | 220.00 | |||
| 13 | 2526906 | MURRAY Julia | 1988 | CAN | 200.00 | |||
| 14 | 2485085 | OWENS Jenny | 1978 | AUS | 180.00 | |||
| 15 | 2527486 | LUEDI Sanna | 1986 | SUI | 0.00 |
Men’s Results:
| Rank | Bib | FIS Code | Name | Year | Nation | Result | Level | Points |
| 1 | 1 | 2386524 | KRAUS Tomas | 1974 | CZE | 1000.00 | ||
| 2 | 14 | 2526291 | NIEDERER Armin | 1987 | SUI | 800.00 | ||
| 3 | 6 | 2526725 | HAYER Stanley | 1973 | CAN | 600.00 | ||
| 4 | 3 | 2387009 | LEWEN Lars | 1975 | SWE | 500.00 | ||
| 5 | 8 | 2447828 | BARR Davey | 1977 | CAN | 450.00 | ||
| 6 | 15 | 2400395 | ELIASSON Tommy | 1980 | SWE | 400.00 | ||
| 7 | 19 | 2190772 | TAKIZAWA Hiroomi | 1973 | JPN | 360.00 | ||
| 8 | 2 | 2526820 | DELBOSCO Christopher | 1982 | CAN | 320.00 | ||
| 9 | 4 | 2526254 | PUCKETT Casey | 1972 | USA | 290.00 | ||
| 10 | 12 | 2384390 | WITTNER Markus | 1973 | AUT | 260.00 | ||
| 11 | 13 | 2389531 | KUHN Xavier | 1978 | FRA | 240.00 | ||
| 12 | 17 | 2484562 | PICCARD Ted | 1978 | FRA | 220.00 | ||
| 13 | 18 | 2526239 | FABRE Olivier | 1983 | FRA | 200.00 | ||
| 14 | 26 | 2412132 | HAUKKALA Juha | 1978 | FIN | 180.00 | ||
| 15 | 28 | 2412714 | SAFAR Zdenek | 1978 | CZE | 160.00 | ||
| 16 | 32 | 2450835 | MIAILLIER Sylvain | 1986 | FRA | 150.00 | ||
| 17 | 5 | 2411938 | ZANGERL Thomas | 1983 | AUT | 140.00 | ||
| 18 | 7 | 2455006 | SCHMID Michael | 1984 | SUI | 130.00 | ||
| 19 | 9 | 2484604 | KOLLER Patrick | 1983 | AUT | 120.00 | ||
| 20 | 10 | 2484376 | GROENVOLD Audun | 1976 | NOR | 110.00 | ||
| 21 | 11 | 2392635 | STEFFEN Andreas | 1975 | SUI | 100.00 | ||
| 22 | 16 | 2527286 | LEMAN Brady | 1986 | CAN | 90.00 | ||
| 23 | 20 | 2527361 | PELLINEN Jouni | 1983 | FIN | 80.00 | ||
| 24 | 21 | 2484520 | BENNETT Brian | 1980 | CAN | 70.00 | ||
| 25 | 22 | 2389628 | GAVAGGIO Enak | 1976 | FRA | 60.00 | ||
| 26 | 23 | 2386718 | ILJANS Eric | 1969 | SWE | 50.00 | ||
| 27 | 24 | 2527501 | HOFER Beni | 1978 | SUI | 45.00 | ||
| 28 | 25 | 2485209 | EBENBICHLER Christoph | 1983 | AUT | 40.00 | ||
| 29 | 29 | 2526897 | DUNCAN David | 1982 | CAN | 0.00 | ||
| 30 | 30 | 2526898 | CULBERT Cam | 1977 | CAN | 0.00 | ||
| 31 | 31 | 2403402 | MOLLING Karl Heinz | 1972 | ITA | 0.00 |
About the Author: Pete Rugh
