SNOWBOARDING:
Canada's Nicoll scores bronze in Italy halfpipe
VALMALENCO, Italy — Mercedes Nicoll of Whistler, B.C., ended a podium drought of nearly five years Sunday, winning the bronze medal in halfpipe at a World Cup snowboard stop in Valmalenco, Italy.
Holly Crawford of Australia posted the top performance in the halfpipe, scoring 40.4 points. Swiss rider Ursina Haller placed second with 37.6 points.
Nicoll dropped in the pipe in qualifications and scored 38.4 points to advance to the six-rider final. Nicoll scored 37.1 points in her second and final run to better her placing and take the third place.
"I don't have any more pressure on me now that the Olympics are over," said Nicoll, who was sixth at the Vancouver Games. "I feel like I'm riding better than ever. I guess I'm just more relaxed and ready to try new runs and see how they work out — so far so good."
With her podium performance, Nicoll now ranks fourth in the halfpipe standings of the FIS World Cup Tour with 1730 points. Three Chinese riders are sitting in the top-3 spots.
The last time Nicoll was on the podium was Sept. 15, 2005, in Valle Nevado, Chile, where she was third.
In the men's contest, Justin Lamoureux of Squamish, B.C., took fourth place, enough to keep him atop the World Cup standings. With just one more contest to go, Lamoureux could secure another crystal globe for Canada in 2010.
Michal Ligocki of Poland won the contest with 40.7 points — his first World Cup podium and victory.
Norwegian rider Roger Kleivdal placed second with 37.2 points and Patrick Burgener was third with 37.0 points. SRC
— The Canadian Press contributed to this report
Valmalenco women’s World Cup halfpipe results
| Rank | Bib | FIS Code | Name | Year | Nation | Result | Level | Points |
| 1 | 14 | 1049941 | CRAWFORD Holly | 1984 | AUS | 1000.00 | 1000.00 | |
| 2 | 16 | 7519989 | HALLER Ursina | 1985 | SUI | 800.00 | 800.00 | |
| 3 | 4 | 1526101 | NICOLL Mercedes | 1983 | CAN | 600.00 | 600.00 | |
| 4 | 12 | 1230833 | BRAY Juliane | 1975 | NZE | 500.00 | 500.00 | |
| 5 | 6 | 1109981 | CONRAD Sarah | 1985 | CAN | 450.00 | 450.00 | |
| 6 | 11 | 1753760 | PELLISSIER Anne Sophie | 1987 | FRA | 400.00 | 400.00 | |
| 7 | 1 | 7105047 | DUCKWORTH Alexandra | 1987 | CAN | 360.00 | 360.00 | |
| 8 | 5 | 1430168 | LIGOCKA Paulina | 1984 | POL | 320.00 | 320.00 | |
| 9 | 2 | 9195071 | GRIMAL Clemence | 1994 | FRA | 290.00 | 290.00 | |
| 10 | 7 | 9515034 | PURTSCHERT Nadja | 1989 | SUI | 260.00 | 260.00 | |
| 11 | 10 | 9195025 | THOVEX Mirabelle | 1991 | FRA | 240.00 | 240.00 | |
| 12 | 17 | 9195070 | LE DROUMAGUET Alexia | 1993 | FRA | 220.00 | 220.00 | |
| 13 | 15 | 9195074 | BERNARD Emma | 1994 | FRA | 200.00 | 200.00 | |
| 14 | 3 | 1389914 | MAKAR Morena | 1985 | CRO | 180.00 | 180.00 | |
| 15 | 9 | 1519998 | SCHULER Andrea | 1975 | SUI | 160.00 | 160.00 | |
| 16 | 8 | 1439986 | ZAJAC Joanna | 1990 | POL | 0.00 | 0.00 | |
| Did not start | ||||||||
| 13 | 1429992 | OLAFSEN Helene | 1990 | NOR | ||||
Valmalenco men’s World Cup halfpipe results
| Rank | Bib | FIS Code | Name | Year | Nation | Result | Level | Points |
| 1 | 11 | 1591770 | LIGOCKI Michal | 1985 | POL | 1000.00 | 1000.00 | |
| 2 | 4 | 1424982 | KLEIVDAL Roger-S | 1988 | NOR | 800.00 | 800.00 | |
| 3 | 8 | 9510239 | BURGENER Patrick | 1994 | SUI | 600.00 | 600.00 | |
| 4 | 5 | 1371580 | LAMOUREUX Justin | 1976 | CAN | 500.00 | 500.00 | |
| 5 | 12 | 9290012 | PIETROPOLI Manuel | 1990 | ITA | 450.00 | 450.00 | |
| 6 | 7 | 1514859 | BERGER Sergio | 1983 | SUI | 400.00 | 400.00 | |
| 7 | 18 | 9190081 | TEVELLE Maxence | 1992 | FRA | 360.00 | 360.00 | |
| 8 | 6 | 9480026 | TARASOV Sergey | 1988 | RUS | 320.00 | 320.00 | |
| 9 | 14 | 7326738 | BAISAMY Johann | 1989 | FRA | 290.00 | 290.00 | |
| 10 | 13 | 1424981 | HOLVIK Tore-V. | 1988 | NOR | 260.00 | 260.00 | |
| 11 | 1 | 9320004 | KIM Ho-jun | 1990 | KOR | 240.00 | 240.00 | |
| 12 | 24 | 9510228 | SCHERRER Jan | 1994 | SUI | 220.00 | 220.00 | |
| 13 | 15 | 9400005 | JONG, DE Dimi | 1994 | NED | 200.00 | 200.00 | |
| 14 | 10 | 1494970 | VERGES Isaac | 1985 | SPA | 180.00 | 180.00 | |
| 15 | 3 | 9420072 | SANDBECH Staale | 1993 | NOR | 160.00 | 160.00 | |
| 16 | 16 | 9510101 | FRIBERG Daniel | 1989 | SUI | 150.00 | 150.00 | |
| 17 | 19 | 7290095 | MUNARI Stefano | 1986 | ITA | 140.00 | 140.00 | |
| 18 | 9 | 1404958 | VAN DER WAL Dolf | 1987 | NED | 130.00 | 130.00 | |
| 19 | 21 | 9510126 | IMHOF Rafael | 1991 | SUI | 120.00 | 120.00 | |
| 20 | 20 | 9560152 | RAVNJAK Tim Kevin | 1996 | SLO | 110.00 | 110.00 | |
| 21 | 17 | 9200090 | BIRKENDAHL Linus | 1995 | GER | 100.00 | 100.00 | |
| 22 | 23 | 9560079 | KAVCIC Filip | 1994 | SLO | 90.00 | 90.00 | |
| 23 | 25 | 9510202 | MEYER Matthias | 1992 | SUI | 0.00 | 0.00 | |
| 24 | 26 | 9320033 | LEE Kwang-Ki | 1993 | KOR | 0.00 | 0.00 | |
| Did not start | ||||||||
| 2 | 9290085 | CIANCALEONI Giorgio | 1991 | ITA | ||||
| 22 | 7540803 | BUZZONI Lorenzo | 1988 | ITA | ||||
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