AERIALS:

Kushnir, Lassila take top honors in Deer Valley aerials

Jan. 15, 2010     ►Photo: Warren Shouldice (Mike Ridewood, CFSA)

DEER VALLEY, Utah — Overall leader Anton Kushnir won for the second time in four World Cup events Friday night, while Australia's Lydia Lassila dominated the field for her first win in nearly a year at Deer Valley Resort.

Kushnir posted the best result in both legs of the event, landing two variations of a triple backflip with four rotations to move past China's Qi Guangpu on the night's final jump.

"Four starts and four podiums is a really good result for me," said Kushner, who was second in Calgary and third in Changchun, China. "I feel good, a little bit tired, but it was really great."

Dmitri Dashinski finished third, giving Belarus two podium finishers.

Kyle Nissen was fifth to lead Canada, with Warren Shouldice seventh, Oliver Rochon 10th, Remi Belanger 14th, Ryan Blais 20th and Steve Omischl 23rd.

American Dylan Ferguson was sixth among the men for his best World Cup finish, while Jeret Peterson failed to land his patented, five-twist Hurricane jump.

"I don't know what happened," Peterson said. "I felt great, I saw the landing and I just stepped right out above my skis and ate a bunch of snow."

Nissen placed fifth with a 247.43, leaving him among the top 18 ranked positions among freestyle skiers vying for the 18-member Olympic freestyle ski team.

Having finished fifth at the 2006 Olympics, the 30-year-old Nissen definitely wants to return to the big stage.

"Today was just a good relief for me," he said of the 2009-10 World Cup season.

"It's been a bit of a tough go, especially with the heat of the pressure to qualify for the Olympics. It's been a bit of a struggle competitively. I've been jumping pretty well in training, but the contests haven't been rolling for me."

Another fifth place next week in Lake Placid would virtually guarantee him an Olympic berth.

Shouldice is also looking good in the rankings for an Olympic team berth after placing sixth last week in Calgary and eighth Friday night with a score of 237.30.

Lassila saved her most difficult jump for qualifying and led by enough of a margin to hold off a Chinese contingent that finished second through sixth, led by Mengtao Xu.

"I knew I had the lead, but the Chinese girls are so strong, and they put their jumps down like they always do," said Lassila, a two-time Olympian.

"I'm not an Olympic medallist, and that's something that I've been working for my entire life," she said. "Everything seems to be going on track now, I just need to keep it going."

Fourth-place finisher Xinxin Guo just missed her fourth podium of the season but retained the World Cup overall lead by 21 points.

Amber Peterson of Thunder Bay, Ont., had a stellar qualifying round to place sixth with a triple-twisting double somersault. However, she missed her landing on her second jump to emerge 12th in the women's 12-skier final.

World Cup rookie Genevieve Tougas of Montreal was 11th to reach her second World Cup final in two weeks. Sabrina Guerin placed 17th.

"I'm feeling like a rookie, but I'm gaining in confidence and my technique," said Tougas, after scoring 160.83 before a crowd of about 5,000 for the night final.

"I was really happy with my first score (of 84.42 in the qualifying round) and how I managed the stress," added Tougas, 22.

"I'm just taking it jump by jump, but making all the finals (for the last two aerials World Cups) would be really positive for me."

American Lacy Schnoor was ninth in the women's competition, while Ashley Caldwell took 10th in just her second career World Cup event.  SRC

— The Canadian Press contributed to this report  

Deer Valley women's World Cup aerials results

Deer Valley men's World Cup aerials results