Winter Olympic preview: Freestyle Skiing
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History
Freestyle skiing first entered the Olympics at the 1992 Games in Albertville, but only moguls got the green light. The debut of aerials followed two years later at Lillehammer in 1994. At the Olympics, the discipline has now grown to include ski cross and this year’s newest events - slopestyle and halfpipe.
The United States is on top with 14 medals overall, but Canada is a close second with nine.
Events
Men’s and women’s aerials, halfpipe, moguls, ski cross, slopestyle
Venue: Rosa Khutor Extreme Park
The park opened in September 2012 and will play host to all of the freestyle events, with a crowd capacity of 4,000. Located in Krasnaya Polyana, the facilities feature specialized tracks for aerials and moguls.
Some athletes were worried about the slopestyle course after Norwegian snowboarding favorite Torstein Horgmo broke his collarbone last week. Snowboarder Shaun White also hurt his wrist on Wednesday, but the international ski federation is planning changes after complaints, so the course is expected to be safe for the qualifiers.
The Top Story
China and Australia, who are not exactly known for their skiing medal haul, will also be worth watching after 2010’s performance. In the aerials, China finished with a silver and two bronzes, while Australia continued its freestyle medal streak, collecting gold and silver in aerials and moguls.
Five Names To Remember
Li Nina (China) - Aerials: After a knee injury derailed her World Cup season in 2012-13, the 2010 silver medallist won the overall aerials title this year, and is favored for gold.
Alex Bilodeau (Canada) - Moguls: The reigning Olympic champion is on top of the World Cup standings, but Canadian teammate Mikael Kingsbury (who won the world title last year) is expected to be his biggest challenge.
Hannah Kearney (United States) - Moguls: The 27-year-old is also expected to repeat her gold-medal performance from Vancouver after three wins on the World Cup circuit this season.
Aaron Blunck (United States) - Halfpipe: Sure, he’s only 17, but the Colorado native, who won the U.S. Grand Prix in December, could find a spot on the podium in Sochi.
James Woods (Britain) - Slopestyle: Woods is Britain’s best hope for an Olympic medal in 2014, which is bound to be a bit of extra pressure. He is ranked No. 1 in the world, but missed the X-Games final on Jan. 26.
Three Terms You Need To Know
Tuck: There are many different types, but essentially involves the skier grabbing their knees close to the chest at a 90 degree angle. A back tuck is when the skier flips backward; front flip means rotating forward. There are also double tucks (two flips), triple tuck (triple flip), lay tuck (first flip, the skier extends their body into a “layout”; second flip in tuck position), and countless other variations.
Slap back: When the skier falls on their back because of a misjudged landing caused by over-rotating.
Backscratcher: A tricky move that involves a lot of balance where the skier touches their back with the tails of their skis by bending the knees.
Previews for each individual event below.