PARK CITY, UT (Feb. 1) - New Jersey teen Mike Rossi (Long Valley, NJ) put together three clean jumps to score a career first podium finishing third in the Visa Freestyle International at Deer Valley Resort. The finish came just two weeks after the 18-year-old cracked the top 10 in Lake Placid. Maxim Gustik of Belarus took his first World Cup win for the men with Mengtao Chu of China winning by an impressive 36 point margin in the women's. The Visa Freestyle International concludes Saturday with dual moguls.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Mike Rossi (Long Island, NJ) scored a career first podium finishing third in the Visa Freestyle International at Deer Valley Resort.
- First jump leader Emily Cook (Belmont, MA) touched down on her second jump and finished seventh.
- Third after the first jump, Dylan Ferguson just missed the finals cut and was fifth.
- Maddie Olsen (Park City, UT) was ninth, Kiley McKinnon (Madison, CT) tenth.
- The World Cup format had 12 men and women in a qualifying round, cutting to eight in finals and then four in super finals.
- The event is a part of the Utah Sports Commission's Winter Action Sports Series. The Visa Freestyle International wraps up Saturday night with dual moguls.
- Aerials will air this Sunday at 1:00 p.m. EST on NBC Sports Network and Sat. Feb. 9 at 2:00 p.m. on NBC.
Rossi Jumps
Qualifications: Lay double - full - full
Finals: Full - double full - full
Super finals: Full - full - full
BROADCAST SCHEDULE (times ET)
Sat. Feb. 2 - 12 p.m. – Visa Freestyle International, Moguls, NBC Sports Network
Sat. Feb. 2 - 7:50 p.m. – Visa Freestyle International, Dual Moguls, USSA Network LIVE
Sun. Feb. 3 - 1 p.m. – Visa Freestyle International, Aerials, NBC Sports Network
Sat. Feb. 9 - 2 p.m. - Visa Freestyle International, Highlights, NBC
QUOTES
Mike Rossi
I didn't expect this at all! Going into it I just wanted to land my jumps, that's always my goal. When I landed my full - double full - full, I just squeaked into the next round and the same thing happened with the super final. My plan never changed through any of the rounds and that really paid off.
I still consider myself a rookie in the sport. The fact that I have a World Cup podium hasn't even set in yet! This is my first year competing on the entire World Cup circuit. This podium gives me so much confidence because I know what I'm capable of. It means so much that I was able to throw it down in front of the hometown crowd in front of my family.
Todd Ossian, Aerial Head Coach
Today was an unbelievable day for Mike. This new format is like a chess game, it's very strategic and that makes it a lot of fun. It's all about where you qualify. You have to adjust your game plan each round. We are all so happy for Mike, he's a young athlete with a huge career ahead of him. And no better place for this podium to happen than at Deer Valley.
Emily Cook
It's a little tricky with some wind up there. Honestly, I was flipping fairly slowly, so I thought I was perfect, but I was just a little bit off, just a small mistake. But obviously in this sport you can't make small mistakes! I'm really happy with training. I did a double-full-full the other day and I was ready to compete that in the last round and I'm really happy about that. This week was definitely a breakthrough week in training for me and I'm definitely bummed to not be on the podium here at home—that's super fun—but I had a really good time tonight.
RESULTS
Official Results
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