North Americans dominate future Olympic pipe in Sochi World Cup test event
North American half pipe skiers claimed five of six podium spots in a pre-Olympic, World Cup test event today (Feb.16) in rainy Sochi Russia, home of the 2014 Olympic Games.
A pair of American skiers grabbed the top two spots in the men’s event as Torin Yater-Wallace and Gus Kenworthy finished 1,2 ahead of Canadian Mike Riddle in third.
“I’m happy with my results. Everyone skied well considering the weather. I mean there were a few people that fell that could have put down sick runs, but that happens it’s a competition,” said Yater-Wallace. “It feels cool to be here at the Olympic venue – it’s a pretty good halfpipe – it’s long. The weather wasn’t great but hopefully next year it’s not as rainy and humid out, but you can’t change the weather.”
X Games gold medalist David Wise led a second wave of strong U.S. results in fifth, followed by Tucker Perkins in sixth and Joss Christensen in seventh.
Swiss Virinie Faivre took the women’s crown and was joined on the podium by Canadians Ros Groenewoud in second and Keltie Hansen in third.
“Definitely I think that being on the podium here gives me a bit of a confidence boost going into next year to know that I can perform well in this pipe,” said Groenewoud. “So, I know that I need to work really hard this next year because the quality of my skiing tonight definitely wasn’t the level it has been this season and definitely is not the quality I want it to be next year.”
For Groenewoud, the medal also confirmed her provisional early nomination to the Canadian Olympic team through the Canadian Freestyle Ski Association’s ‘Method A’ nomination process.
A tight cluster of American women cracked the top 15 led by Jamie Crane-Mauzy in ninth, Angeli Vanlaanen in 10th, Maddie Bowman in 11th and Annalisa Drew in 12th.
The Olympic test events continue in Sochi Sunday with men’s and women’s aerials contests. There will be men’s and women’s ski cross races Tuesday.
MORE TO COME
Men’s Results
| Rank | Bib | FIS Code | Name | Year | Nation | Result | Level | Points |
| 1 | 1 | 2528389 | YATER-WALLACE Torin | 1995 | USA | 93.8 | 1000.00 | |
| 2 | 12 | 2528863 | KENWORTHY Gus | 1991 | USA | 90.00 | 800.00 | |
| 3 | 4 | 2484398 | RIDDLE Mike | 1986 | CAN | 88.2 | 600.00 | |
| 4 | 17 | 2526841 | WELLS Byron | 1992 | NZL | 84.4 | 500.00 | |
| 5 | 2 | 2484582 | WISE David | 1990 | USA | 83.00 | 450.00 | |
| 6 | 24 | 2526277 | PERKINS Tucker | 1991 | USA | 78.8 | 400.00 | |
| 7 | 49 | 2527777 | CHRISTENSEN Joss | 1991 | USA | 74.8 | 360.00 | |
| 8 | 21 | 2485218 | TSUDA Kentaro | 1983 | JPN | 56.6 | 320.00 | |
| 9 | 15 | 2525940 | WELLS Josiah | 1990 | NZL | 34.4 | 290.00 | |
| 10 | 8 | 2526779 | BOWMAN Noah | 1992 | CAN | 28.2 | 260.00 | |
| 11 | 13 | 2528504 | FERREIRA Alex | 1994 | USA | 27.2 | 240.00 | |
| 12 | 6 | 2529024 | BLUNCK Aaron | 1996 | USA | 18.4 | 220.00 | |
| 13 | 27 | 2527827 | BARRYMORE Wing Tai | 1992 | USA | 70.00 | 200.00 | |
| 14 | 5 | 2414363 | ROLLAND Kevin | 1989 | FRA | 69.00 | 180.00 | |
| 15 | 14 | 2528612 | WELLS Beau-James | 1995 | NZL | 69.00 | 160.00 | |
| 16 | 29 | 2450156 | LAUPER Nils | 1982 | SUI | 68.8 | 150.00 | |
| 17 | 9 | 2526864 | ALLEN Christian | 1990 | USA | 68.6 | 140.00 | |
| 18 | 32 | 2526227 | BUCHAN Murray | 1991 | GBR | 65.6 | 130.00 | |
| 19 | 11 | 2525958 | MARGETTS Matt | 1988 | CAN | 62.8 | 120.00 | |
| 20 | 19 | 2529602 | ILIANO Frederick | 1996 | SUI | 61.8 | 110.00 | |
| 21 | 22 | 2526924 | TERADA Kiyoshi | 1984 | JPN | 61.2 | 100.00 | |
| 22 | 28 | 2530893 | SHEEHAN Lyndon | 1988 | NZL | 60.6 | 90.00 | |
| 23 | 20 | 2526889 | SEATON Taylor | 1990 | USA | 59.4 | 80.00 | |
| 24 | 36 | 2530775 | NARITA Gurimu | 1994 | JPN | 59.00 | 70.00 | |
| 25 | 37 | 2526930 | BIJASSON Nicolas | 1991 | FRA | 58.2 | 60.00 | |
| 26 | 35 | 2526782 | ATKINSON Kristopher | 1991 | CAN | 57.8 | 50.00 | |
| 27 | 47 | 2529865 | GOHL Andreas | 1994 | AUT | 54.00 | 45.00 | |
| 28 | 26 | 2529122 | LINDSTAD Jon Anders | 1994 | NOR | 51.00 | 40.00 | |
| 29 | 33 | 2528635 | KIM Kwang-Jin | 1995 | KOR | 49.8 | 36.00 | |
| 30 | 10 | 2527115 | SMAINE Kyle | 1991 | USA | 48.8 | 32.00 | |
| 31 | 39 | 2485008 | NABOKIKH Pavel | 1989 | RUS | 47.2 | 28.00 | |
| 32 | 48 | 2526722 | CHRISTEN Marc | 1992 | LIE | 45.4 | 26.00 | |
| 33 | 45 | 2440155 | KUWABARA Yuki | 1982 | JPN | 45.2 | 24.00 | |
| 34 | 46 | 2444142 | KAISER Markus | 1978 | LIE | 42.6 | 22.00 | |
| 35 | 23 | 2529067 | LERJEN Yannic | 1990 | SUI | 42.00 | 20.00 | |
| 36 | 7 | 2526929 | POLLET-VILLARD Joffrey | 1992 | FRA | 39.8 | 19.70 | |
| 37 | 31 | 2480129 | TANNO Mikiya | 1984 | JPN | 39.6 | 19.40 | |
| 38 | 52 | 2531010 | NAJDENOV Nikolaj | 1984 | BUL | 39.4 | 19.10 | |
| 39 | 42 | 2527524 | KORDYUK Petr | 1992 | RUS | 38.6 | 18.80 | |
| 40 | 50 | 2526196 | LIKETSOS Konstantinos | 1982 | GRE | 36.4 | 18.50 | |
| 41 | 3 | 2424548 | KRIEF Thomas | 1993 | FRA | 36.4 | 18.20 | |
| 42 | 18 | 2528946 | CROOK Peter | 1993 | IVB | 30.6 | 17.90 | |
| 43 | 43 | 2530421 | EGOROV Roman | 1993 | RUS | 27.8 | 17.60 | |
| 44 | 51 | 2527337 | SONEHARA Isao | 1984 | JPN | 27.00 | 17.30 | |
| 45 | 16 | 2529039 | CURRIER Lyman | 1994 | USA | 26.8 | 0.00 | |
| 46 | 34 | 2527903 | BLANCHI Antoine | 1991 | FRA | 26.6 | 0.00 | |
| 47 | 40 | 2527334 | SHIBABUKI Takanori | 1986 | JPN | 20.2 | 0.00 | |
| 48 | 44 | 2526923 | NAMIKI Kyohsuke | 1977 | JPN | 15.00 | 0.00 |
Women’s Results
| Rank | Bib | FIS Code | Name | Year | Nation | Result | Level | Points |
| 1 | 5 | 2449865 | FAIVRE Virginie | 1982 | SUI | 80.8 | 1000.00 | |
| 2 | 4 | 2485240 | GROENEWOUD Rosalind | 1989 | CAN | 79.00 | 800.00 | |
| 3 | 18 | 2526959 | HANSEN Keltie | 1992 | CAN | 76.4 | 600.00 | |
| 4 | 16 | 2435218 | MARTINOD Marie | 1984 | FRA | 74.4 | 500.00 | |
| 5 | 6 | 2469362 | JAEGER Mirjam | 1982 | SUI | 70.6 | 450.00 | |
| 6 | 10 | 2485289 | CARADEUX Anais | 1990 | FRA | 65.6 | 400.00 | |
| 7 | 2 | 2529489 | ONOZUKA Ayana | 1988 | JPN | 62.2 | 360.00 | |
| 8 | 19 | 2528723 | RAGETTLI Nina | 1993 | SUI | 57.2 | 320.00 | |
| 9 | 14 | 2527493 | CRANE-MAUZY Jamie | 1992 | USA | 47.8 | 290.00 | |
| 10 | 22 | 2526245 | VANLAANEN Angeli | 1985 | USA | 27.6 | 260.00 | |
| 11 | 1 | 2527776 | BOWMAN Maddie | 1994 | USA | 19.8 | 240.00 | |
| 12 | 9 | 2527367 | DREW Annalisa | 1993 | USA | 13.4 | 220.00 | |
| 13 | 11 | 2485261 | AERTS Katrien | 1976 | BEL | 65.8 | 200.00 | |
| 14 | 12 | 2529617 | KUZMA Janina | 1985 | NZL | 62.4 | 180.00 | |
| 15 | 27 | 2529541 | SHEEHAN Amy | 1986 | AUS | 55.6 | 160.00 | |
| 16 | 8 | 2485115 | MITSUBOSHI Manami | 1984 | JPN | 52.8 | 150.00 | |
| 17 | 28 | 2530281 | CHESNOKOVA Elizavetta | 1996 | RUS | 51.6 | 140.00 | |
| 18 | 17 | 2484597 | SHARP Kimmy | 1989 | USA | 50.2 | 130.00 | |
| 19 | 29 | 2529868 | GRAM Elisabeth | 1996 | AUT | 46.2 | 120.00 | |
| 20 | 20 | 2484352 | LONSDALE Emma | 1984 | GBR | 45.8 | 110.00 | |
| 21 | 15 | 2526380 | GRIFFITHS Katia | 1980 | SPA | 45.2 | 100.00 | |
| 22 | 23 | 2485116 | SATOH Maiko | 1980 | JPN | 44.00 | 90.00 | |
| 23 | 26 | 2527483 | BAUER Daniela | 1986 | AUT | 42.4 | 80.00 | |
| 24 | 30 | 2530589 | MAKAGONOVA Natalya | 1992 | RUS | 37.8 | 70.00 | |
| 25 | 21 | 2526925 | TERADA Shuri | 1982 | JPN | 33.8 | 60.00 | |
| 26 | 24 | 2529293 | CHESHIRE Rowan | 1995 | GBR | 20.00 | 0.00 | |
| 27 | 7 | 2382062 | HUDAK Jennifer | 1986 | USA | 19.00 | 0.00 | |
| Did not start | ||||||||
| 2529125 | SJAASTAD CHRISTIANSEN Tiril | 1995 | NOR | |||||
| 2529955 | YAMAZAKI Yurie | 1989 | JPN | |||||
| 2484708 | SIGOURNEY Brita | 1990 | USA | |||||
About the Author: Eric Williams
