Thepaut's big jump takes honors in Mettemenstetten

More than 1,200 spectators saw some of the best European aerialists from approximately 10 nations compete at the water-jump facility in Mettemenstetten, Switzerland, on Sunday. The top spots at the first Summer European Championships for ski acrobatics went to Belarus’ Alla Tsuper on the women’s side and Frenchman Nicolas Thepaut.

MORE THAN 1,200 spectators saw some of the best European aerialists from approximately 10 nations compete at the water-jump facility in Mettemenstetten, Switzerland, on Sunday. The top spots at the first Summer European Championships for ski acrobatics went to Belarus’ Alla Tsuper on the women’s side and Frenchman Nicolas Thepaut.
    Evelyne Leu (Switzerland) and Dimitri Dashinski (Belarus) finished second in the women’s and men’s events, respectively, while Oly Slivets (Belarus) and Renato Ulrich (Switzerland) took third. Like the Swiss, the Belorussian national team knows the renovated jumping facility well, having spent weeks there training several summers in a row.
    Dashinski, silver medalist at the Torino Olympics and in the 2007 FIS World Championships in Madonna di Campiglio, was the only one to challenge Thepaut, who delivered a world debut in his last jump, landing a perfect “back double full, full, double full” which is a triple flip with five twists, two twists in the first flip, one twist in the second flip and two twists in the third flip; a wonderful comeback for the 27-year-old who has been injured for a long while. Click here to see the video.
    Commenting on the superb jumps, Joe Fitzgerald, FIS freestyle coordinator, said, “The aerials degree of difficulty and criteria were further refined at the FIS spring meetings and we are now seeing some different jumps being done. The separation between the flips and twists and the speed of the rotation in twists now have more emphasis with the trainers, athletes and judges. We saw some excellent examples of these new techniques at the competition in Mettemenstetten.”