FREESTYLE:

Justine Dufour-Lapointe, Bilodeau rule Gabriel moguls

Jan. 15, 2011 — CFSA     ♦ Photos: Justine Dufour-Lapointe; Alex Bilodeau, left, with Mikael Kingsbury (Mike Ridewood, CFSA); Video by Infront Sports & Media/FIS

STE. ADELE, Quebec — Following in the footsteps of Canadian sporting greats Jean-Luc Brassard and Alex Bilodeau, Montreal’s Justine Dufour-Lapointe won FIS World Cup gold at Ski Mont Gabriel in the Canada Post Freestyle Grand Prix on Saturday.

Dufour-Lapointe, who becomes the youngest female to win a FIS moguls World Cup, did so 20 years after Brassard’s first win and five years after Bilodeau’s first win here. Both Brassard and Bilodeau went on to become Olympic champions.

Dufour-Lapointe was joined in top spot by Bilodeau, who won the men’s division.

A hometown crowd of about 2,000 braved snow and minus-15 degree temperatures to watch the exciting head-to-head event, where eight Canadian women and seven Canadian men progressed to the 16-athlete finals.

Dufour-Lapointe battled Russia’s Anastassia Gunchenko for top spot, while Jenn Heil bested Justine’s older sister Chloé in the consolation round.

In fact, the three Dufour-Lapointe sisters, Justine, Chloé and Maxime, all of whom grew up skiing with the Mont Gabriel Freestyle Team, made it to the finals. It was the first time in Canadian freestyle history that three siblings competed in a World Cup event together.

Justine, who won a bronze in a dual event in Meribel, France, earlier in the season, said, “I’m really stoked. I’m more than happy. I can’t believe that I won my first World Cup here in Mont Gabriel and in my home country for only my third competition on the World Cup circuit.”

She added, “Racing with my sisters is always fun because we’re really close and we don’t really fight, it’s more just a mental challenge.”

For her part, Heil, who now lives in Montreal, was encouraged to see such a strong crowd at the event and even more to see the younger generation stepping up to the plate. She said, “It’s so awesome to be at home here and the crowd here is seriously the best in the world. And it’s great to see the kids, like Justine and Mikaël on the podium.”

Dufour-Lapointe and Heil headed up a very strong finish for the Canadian team. Other finalists included Chloé Dufour-Lapointe in fourth; Audrey Robichaud in fifth; Kristi Richards in sixth; Alexandra Dufresne and Maxime Dufour-Lapointe in 15th; and Béatrice Bilodeau in 16th. Chelsea Henitiuk finished the day in 19th spot.

On the men’s side, Bilodeau beat teammate Kingsbury in the final. Bilodeau said, “It feels great to touch the podium again and I think the results here are really promising for the rest of the season.”

Guilbaut Colas of France beat Jeremy Cota of the USA for the bronze medal; Colas maintains the yellow bib as the current standings leader.

Bilodeau is also encouraged by what he sees from the team’s rookies, “What we see here today with the men and the women speaks to the excellent job the Canadian Freestyle Ski Association is doing, and it looks really positive for the future.”

It was Kingsbury’s third medal of the season – last month he won silver in the season-opener in Ruka, Finland and then gold in Changchun, China – it was also some of the fastest skiing the 18-year-old has ever done. Kingsbury said, “I did everything I could today. Against Alex in the final, I gave all I had, but he was definitely quicker than I was today. Still, I’m satisfied by what I was able to do.”

Canadian men’s finalists included rookies Marc-Antoine Gagnon and Simon Pouliot-Cavanagh in ninth and 10th spot, respectively. Pierre-Alexandre Rousseau was 11th; Arnaud Laurin-Landry was 12th and Cédric Rochon was 13th. Eddie Hicks was 18th and Pascal Olivier-Gagné was 26th.

The Canada Post Freestyle Grand Prix at Ski Mont Gabriel, presented by Ernst & Young, continues here Sunday with an aerials event.  S-Magazine

Gabriel women's World Cup dual moguls results

Gabriel men's World Cup dual moguls results