The success of Friday night was reflected in the smiles of the Americans at the Visa Freestyle International World Cup at Deer Valley.
First it was the million-dollar grin of Park City aerialist Emily Cook after securing a spot on the podium with third place. Then it was the smiles that swept up the entire crowd after Ryan St. Onge stormed to a first-place finish in front of all of his family and friends.
The win was St. Onge’s sixth career World Cup victory and his third at Deer Valley.
“Deer Valley treats me very well,” St. Onge said. “All of my family came. I love being here in Deer Valley in front of a huge crowd.”
St. Onge captured the victory with a new jump — a ‘back full double full full.’ which translates into the three flips with four twists. Going big paid off for St. Onge, who spun out of it and landed with arms pumping to the crowd and the look of a winner already on his face.
“That was only the second time this year I’ve done this jump,” St. Onge said. “It would have seemed logical for me to maybe back down this week and spend more time performing that trick before I completed it. But I did a great one in training and I knew I could do it. I really wanted to win instead of just being in the back of the pack.”
U.S. aerials coach Matt Christensen couldn’t have been more pleased.
“Ryan is all about doing good jumps,” said Christensen. “His second jump was probably the best (of that) jump that he’s ever landed on snow.”
In the women’s event, Cook finished behind Nina Li and Xinxin Guo for her second third-place finish of the season. She had a solid qualifying jump and opted for a tried-and-true jump rather than a newer trick she been working on and will perform next week.
“We knew the ‘full double full ful’l would get the podium,” Cook said. “I had a great first jump. It was definitely one of my better ones and the ‘double full full’ is a new jump for me. I just completed it in Lake Placid two weeks ago so basically it was a good call to come back down to a trick I’ve trained for years and years.”
Cook had been battling illness all week and said her Friday-night perform was quite the comeback. She was also happy to do so well in her adopted hometown in front of family, friends and many loyal fans.
“I’m really excited. I have so many friends and family out here tonight and the crowd is awesome,” Cook said.
Finishing just off the podium was Jeret “Speedy” Peterson, with a dazzling jump and a fourth-place finish. The night marked his return to the Deer Valley World Cup after taking a season off.
U.S. aerials coach Matt Christensen was very excited about the show his athletes put on in front of nearly 5,000-people crowd at Deer Valley.
“Our veterans really came through for us,” Christensen said.
Next week, the team will take its first stab at the Olympic jumps in Vancouver.
“Every Olympic year we peak a year too early,” said Christensen. “In Vancouver, we are just trying to get used to the site. We’re looking at getting good jumps there rather than results.”
For complete results, see B-4.