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Inawashiro World champioships

INAWASHIRO 2009: Ski cross gold for Ashleigh McIvor (CAN) and Andreas Matt (AUT)

The FIS Freestyle World Championships 2009 got underway today in Inawashiro (JPN). The first title competition was the ladies’ and men’s ski cross event carried out for the third time at this level. Under deep blue skies, the ski cross competition ended with dramatic results as the main favorites stumbled and new stars were born: The new world champions are Ashleigh McIvor of Canada and Andreas Matt of Austria.

In the ladies’ competition, Ophelie David of France, the five-time ski cross World Cup champion and reigning 2007 ski cross world champion, had a poor start and came in last place in her semi-final and hence was unable to defend her title, finishing 7 th instead. 25-year-old Ashleigh McIvor of Canada was the last to qualify after hiking up to the gate she missed initially. In the finals she lead from start to finish and went on to win her first major title. Austria’s Karin Huttary took the silver ahead of Meryl Boulangeat of France while Sasa Faric of Slovenia was just kicked off the medals in 4 th place.

The win at Inawashiro 2009 is McIvor’s first major victory although she has collected three World Cup podium results this season and currently sits in 3 rd position in the overall World Cup standings.  Karin Huttary was the first ever FIS world champion in ski cross in 2005 at Ruka (FIN) and was now rewarded with the silver medal after being set back by injuries several times in the past seasons. She has captured four podiums in this year’s World Cup and is currently ranked 2 nd in the overall ski cross standings. 22-year-old Meryl Boulangeat was the runner up at the 2007 FIS Freestyle Championships in Madonna di Campiglio (ITA) and delivered her season best performance  at the season highlight event.

In the men’s competition, the World Cup leader and two-time world champion (Madonna di Campiglio 2007, Ruka 2005), Tomas Kraus (Czech Republic) was eliminated in the first of the final rounds. The places in the final were taken by two Austrians and Canadians each. In the end, Andreas Matt and Thomas Zangerl (both AUT)  celebrated a double victory ahead of Davey Barr of Canada in 3rd place and Christoher Delbosco finishing fourth after some contact in the very beginning which he could not catch up on the steep and technical course. Matt had also led the qualification round and went on to show that he was clearly the best skier of the day.

For Andreas Matt, brother of 2007 slalom world champion Mario Matt, it was the first major victory. Earlier this season, Matt celebrated his career first World Cup win and has collected a total of four World Cup podiums, putting him in 4th place in the current ski cross World Cup standings. 26-year-old Matt finished 6th in the FIS Freestyle World Championships in 2007. Clearly in the midst of his best season so far, Thomas Zangerl posted his first ever podium finish in the second to last World Cup event in Voss/Myrkdalen (NOR) before the Worlds where the silver finish represents his career best performance. Canadian Davey Barr also equaled his season best with the bronze medal, after having taken his season’s only podium at the 2010 Olympic test event at Cypress a few weeks ago. The veteran’s previous World Championship ranks were 22nd (Madonna) and 27th (Ruka).

The snow conditions were very challenging, with above freezing in previous days but below freezing on race day which led to soft snow spots on race course.

Comments:

Andreas Matt (AUT), men’s gold medalist: “I still cannot believe it. Every heat in the finals was a tough race, but I’m so happy to have been able to finish in such a great way.”

Davey Barr (CAN), men’s bronze medalist: “I am not disappointed. I got tangled up at the start. There just wasn’t more in it for me today.”

Ashleigh McIvor (CAN), ladies’ gold medalist: “This win will definitely build momentum for next year’s Vancouver Olympics. It was a very tough race. I think today’s win is an honor for the Canadian team. I was able to stand on the podium at the World Cup held in my hometown Cypress, but I have yet to secure a spot on the Canadian team. But I think this is a big step forward in terms of the selection.

“I just kept making good passes on the top. It tried to just jump smaller and tight, so I get less air which may have helped me toda.

Karin Huttary (AUT), ladies silver medalist: “Silver medal is really cool. It was top racing today. My skies were so fast today. I'm happy.”

Meryl Boulangeat (FRA), ladies bronze medalist: “I'm really happy. I had a good start and after that I think I skied really well. It's cool to be on the podium.”

The action in Japan continues Wednesday at the 2009 FIS Freestyle Ski World Championships with men's and ladies’ aerials.

For complete results, click here for ladies http://www.fis-ski.com/uk/604/610.html?sector=FS&raceid=5064 and for the men’s here  http://www.fis-ski.com/uk/604/610.html?sector=FS&raceid=5065

Photo images:

Photo images from today’s World Championship event free of charge for editorial use can be found on the ftp-server of FIS at:

ftp://ftp.fisski.ch/Freestyle/photos/Inawashiro%20WSC%202009/SX%20Credit%20Agence%20Zoom/

Please credit any use of these photos to Agence Zoom

Live Streaming from Inawashiro 2009 – do not miss any of the action!

Live and on-demand streaming is available from all events held at  Inawashiro 2009 here link (http://freestyle.infrontams.tv/popup/)