Freestyle

Sochi Aerials Hill Gets Its Test

by
USSA
2013-02-17 09:37
 

ROSA KHUTOR, Russia (Feb. 17) - Dylan Ferguson (Amesbury, MA) and Kiley McKinnon (Madison, CT) each soared to fifth in the pre-Olympic test event on the Rosa Khutor aerial venue. It was a career best for McKinnon. It was a challenging week with warm weather, snow and fog making training challenging but the athletes were very pleased with the new venue located next to the Olympic halfpipe. The Chinese dominated the competition sweeping wins with Guangpu Qi taking men's and Mengtau Xu the women's.

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Dylan Ferguson (Amesbury, MA) and Kiley McKinnon (Madison, CT) each flew to fifth in the pre-Olympic aerials test event at Rosa Khutor.
  • Jonathan Lillis (Rochester, NY) was ninth with his second top ten of the season.
  • Ferguson threw a double full, full, full for his marquee jump of the evening with Lillis gong full, double full, full. McKinnon went full, full for a career best finish.
  • Warm weather, snow and fog hampered training but the competition went on as planned with athletes giving high marks to the overall venue at Rosa Khutor.
  • The final aerials event of the season is coming up next weekend in the Ukraine.

QUOTES
Dylan Ferguson
It's been a really great week here in Sochi. Even though the weather wasn't the best the site is absolutely unbelievable and by far the coolest venue I've ever seen. To look over and see the halfpipe right next to our site is sweet. I actually took a few laps in it after the comp was over.

I'm definitely a little bummed with my fifth place finish, of course I wanted to be on the podium here but I've had a great week and I've still got a smile on my face!

Kiley McKinnon
I'm really happy with my fifth place finish today, it's the best finish I've had on the World Cup circuit. My qualification jump didn't go as planned and threw me off a little but I was able to come back with a solid second jump to get me into the next round.

 
Everyone worked really hard to make this site a success and it really paid off. Our coaches and staff and the volunteers at the mountain made this a once in a lifetime experience for me. To say I've competed in Sochi, Russia is something that very few others can say.
 

 

 


 


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