Russian Federation picks up four medals as Freestyle Skiing comes to a close

In the men’s ski cross event, Russia’s Artem Nabiulin won gold, while compatriot Ekaterina Maltseva took top honours among women

KRASNOYARSK, 11 March – The host nation finished the Freestyle Skiing competition at the Krasnoyarsk 2019 Winter Universiade with a flourish, picking up four of the six medals on offer in the ski cross event.

 

Artem Nabiulin won gold in the men’s event ahead of countryman Maxim Vikhrov and Germnay’s Florian Wilmsmann.

 

“It’s nice that I didn’t let my Russian national team down,” said the winner. “I won the gold medal. Luck was on my side today.” 

 

Florian Wilmsmann, who won bronze said, “My goal was to get gold. I really wanted to win. In ski cross, you never know who is going to win. Anything can happen. I had a good start in the final, but I crossed my skis. In the end I’m happy with third place.”

 

He added his thoughts on the course, saying “For freestyle skiing, every discipline is possible here. The course is very technical, but not really difficult. It’s like FIS races or maybe European races.” Wilmsmann also said he felt like he was at a mini-Olympic games, and he knows what he is talking about because he went to the Pyeongchang Winter Games. “The Olympic village, the shuttles, the track, it is all very good.” 

 

In Women’s ski cross event, Ekaterina Maltseva from Russia won gold, Anna Antonova from Russia won silver medal and Klara Kasparova from the Czech Republic picked up the bronze medal. 

 

Maltseva was really proud of her victory today and she said that it is already one of the highlights of her career. 

 

Results: 

Men

1	Artem Nabiulin	RUS
2	Maxim Vikhrov	RUS
3	Florian Wilmsmann	GER

 

Women 

1	Ekaterina MALTSEVA	RUS
2	Anna ANTONOVA	RUS
3	Klara KASPAROVA	CZE

 

 

Earlier- 9 March

Golden times for France and Japan in Moguls

KRASNOYARSK, 9 March – As Frenchman Benjamin Cavet competed in Freestyle Skiing Moguls, he had his French Alpine Skiing teammates cheering him along all the way. It seemed to work for him as he the finished his day with a run score of 80.36 and a gold medal around his neck. His teammates sang the French national anthem and the famous ‘Allez les bleus’ as they supported him all the way to the podium.

 

“I had great support from my friends,” said Cavet and then explained why it was so important for him to compete here in Krasnoyarsk. “Three of the world’s top five athletes are competing here and next year we have a World Cup here in Russia. It’s a good way to scope out the place.”

About his strategy for the day he said, “You put up a big score and then you enjoy. You hope nobody will do better. I missed my entry into the World Cups, so today I showed what I can do. I’m pretty happy that my parents watched my competition live. Also, (Olympic gold medalist) Mikaël Kinsbury said he was going to watch it while taking his morning coffee.”

 

Then he added, “These are like mini Olympic Games. C’est top!”

 

It was also a top outing for two Japanese athletes – Daichi Hara and Ikuma Horishima who finished on the podium behind Cavet with scores of 80.22 and 79.04. 

Over onthe women’s side, the Japanese contingent continued to do well with Kisara Sumiyoshi striking gold. With a run score of 65.86, she finished ahead of two Germans, Lea Bouard and Sophie Weese.

 

Sumiyoshi kept it short and simple when she said “the win was not easy for me,” afterwards. Freestyle skiing continues at the Krasnoyarsk 2019 Winter Universiade with the dual moguls on 10 March. All action will be live on fisu.tv.

 

RESULTS

MOGULS WOMEN

1. KISARA SUMIYOSHI (JPN)

2. LEA BOUARD (GER)

3. SOPHIE WEESE (GER)

MOGULS MEN

1. BENJAMIN CAVET (FRA)

2. HARA DAICHI (JPN)

3. IKUMA HORISHIMA (JPN)

 

Earlier, 8 March

The Freestyle tournament at Krasnoyarsk’s Raduga Cluster has reached its peak. Today, the athletes were competing for two sets of the Winter Universiade 2019 medals in slopestyle.

KRASNOYARSK – In what is arguably one of the most young and creative disciplines of the Winter Universiade, crowds gathered in number to watch the acrobatics on display. On the 480-metre-long course, with a height of 138 metres, 23 men and 6 women participated in the competition. They represented 13 counties— Russia, France, Finland, Slovenia, Germany, South Korea, Switzerland, Great Britain, Thailand, Austria, Czech Republic, Lithuania and Estonia.

 

The qualifying races among women only confirmed the leading positions of the Russian athletes Anastasiia Tatalina and Lana Prusakova. Lou Barin, the Olympic Games 2018 participant, also made it to the top three after the qualification.

 

The gold medal went to Prusakova, who was second in the qualification. “I am very happy that I was able to cope with landing,” she said, delighted. “It was a success! The course is good because you can make long landings—it is convenient and comfortable.”

 

The competition among men promised to be fiercer. Daniel Antell (Finland) showed the best result there. Jona Schmidhalter (Switzerland) and Elliot Gorry (France) followed him to the final, with a minimum gap. Dmitrii Mulendeev and Dmitrii Makarov, the Russian athletes, were placed fifth and sixth results respectively, going into the finals.

 

Schmidhalter from Switzerland received the bronze, and Eliot Gorry of France took the second place. The best ride was by Tobias Mueller, who had only 42 points in the second attempt, but in the first he received 92! As a result, it was he who received the deserved gold medal of the Universiade.

 

After the final downhill ride, Mueller shared his impressions: “Our sport does not allow you to prepare the programme that will be suitable to all slopes. At first, you come to the course, see what it will let you do and then you adapt yourself. That was also the case this time. I did not expect to take this high position and, of course, I am very glad about it. The course is very well prepared. It is one of the best sports competitions I have participated in with regard to its organisation, for example. I have greatly enjoyed with them.”

 

Results Freestyle Skiing. Slopestyle

Men

1. Tobias Mueller (GER)

2. Elliot Gorry (FRA)

3. Jona Schmidhalter (SUI)

Women

1. Lana Prusakova (RUS)

2. Anastasiia Tatalina (RUS)

3. Lou Barin (FRA)

 

 

DAY TWO- 4 March, 2019

 

Team Belarus wins gold in Mixed Team Aerials

 

KRASNOYARSK, 4 March – Day 2 of the Freestyle Skiing event at Krasnoyarsk 2019 was all about seven teams competing for the medals in the Mixed Team Aerials, at the Sopka Cluster. Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus were represented by two teams each and there was one team from China.

 The composition of the teams made by the coaches became known only one day before the competition. The strong contenders included the Russian duos of Kristina Spiridonova and Stanislav Nikitin, as well current world champion Maxim Burov and Liubov Nikitina, who had recently won a Winter Universiade 2019 silver medal in individual competitions.

 

The biggest challenge to them was to come from the Belarussian duo: Aleksandra Romanovskaya, the current world champion in Freestyle Skiing, and Artyom Bashlakov, the silver medalist of the Winter Universiade in 2017.

 

After the qualification results, only Russia managed to keep both teams in the fray, along with pairs from Kazakhstan, China and Belarus. The final round was a dramatic one, as the two Russian duos and the Belarus entered the ‘super-final’.

 

In the ‘super-final’ though, Burov made a mistake while landing and the super team of Burov-Nikitina lost out on the gold medal, and also the silver. The Belarussians were thrilled with their performance.

 

After the awarding ceremony, the winners shared their impressions of the exciting finals. “We did our best!” said Artem Bashlakov. “We were ready for such a result, but we had to do whatever it takes to achieve it. Many things depend on luck. It looks like today is our day!”

 

“Our jumps were a little bit simpler than others,” said a visibly happy Romanovskaya. “But I tried not to fear anyone or anything and just to have fun and enjoy the moment!”

 

The Russian pair of Nikitin-Spiridonova won silvers, while the favourites were pushed to bronze.

 

Results: Mixed Team Aerials. Finals

1. Belarus. Aleksandra Romanovskaya and Artem Bashlakov

2. Russia. Stanislav Nikitin and Kristina Spiridonova

3. Russia. Maxim Burov and Lyubov Nikitina

 

Day One: 3 March, 2019 

The Aerials competitions started with the qualifications; 15 men and 12 women from seven countries competed for the medals: Russia, Belarus, China, Kazakhstan, Japan, Germany and South Korea.

 

As it was expected, the main rivalry took place between the Russian athletes. Stanislav Nikitin, the bronze champion of the 2019 World Cup (the USA) scored highest during the qualification session. Maxim Burov (Russia), the 2019 World Cup winner, who was expected to be the first, came second. Ruslan Katmanov, the champion of the 2019 European Cup in Moscow (Russia), showed the third best result.

 

Among women, the best qualifier was Alexandra Romanovskaya, the 2019 World Cup winner. Kristina Spiridonova and Lyubov Nikitina from Russia were snapping at the Belorussian athlete’s toes. Nuo Xu, a Chinese athlete expected to get a medal, did not make it to the top four.

The finals mostly confirmed the tendency but there were some surprises. Nuo Xu finally gave up on getting to the podium, as she made a serious mistake with a fall. The tension of the first women’s finals grew closer to the end, when Romanovskaya was to take the last jump while it was already clear that the Russian athletes, Lyubov Nikitina and Kristina Spiridonova, had performed their programmes with a pretty good result. The Belorussian athlete perfectly coped with the inevitable anxiety, having performed the most difficult jump of all the declared ones in the women’s competitions. The Superfinals sealed the victory of Alexandra Romanovskaya. The second place was taken by the Russian athlete, Lyubov Nikitina, but the third place was suddenly taken by the Kazakhstan freestyler Zhanbota Aldabergenova.

 

The men’s finals were not the best ones in Stanislav Nikitin’s sports career. After showing the best result in the qualifications, Stanislav fell on his back while landing in the first final. As a result, he took the 11th place out of 12. Maxim Burov only confirmed his stability and class. He was performing the same difficult programme with which he had recently won the World Cup in the United States. The second place was taken by the Chinese athlete, Zhonglin Li, the Winter Universiade 2017 champion. The third place was won by Ruslan Katmanov, another Russian athlete.

‘I am my opponent. I was competing with myself trying to overcome stress and anxiety. I admit I was a bit worried. How else can you feel when you hear Russian fans cheering?! I had to do everything very well, and, as you can see, I’ve done it,’ said the first Russia’s gold medal winner in Freestyle, Maxim Burov, at the end of the competitions.

 

Freestyle, Aerials. Finals. Women

 

1. Alexandra Romanovskaya (Belarus, Belarusian State Pedagogical University) 

2. Lyubov Nikitina (Russia, Moscow State Academy of Physical Culture)

3. Zhanbota Aldabergenova (Kazakhstan, Al-Farabi Kazakh National University)

 

Freestyle, Aerials. Finals. Men

 

1. Maxim Burov (Russia, Moscow State Academy for the Psychological Education)

2. Zhonglin Li (China, Jilin Sport University)

3. Ruslan Katmanov (Russia, Bashkir Institute of Physical Culture)