Sherbrooke Que.'s Marion Thénault dominates World Cup aerials qualifiers

Sherbrooke Que.'s Marion Thénault dominated the qualifying session at the Lac-Beauport Aerials World Cup.

The team bronze medallist from the Beijing Olympic Games earned the highest score of the morning at the Centre de ski Le Relais for her back double somersault punctuated by two twists, a score of 90.94.

Thénault, who crashed heavily between the first two World Cups of the season and is still recovering from her injuries, indicated this week that she would stick to double manoeuvres, which she believed would enable her to qualify for the final or even the super-final.

The first stage was a success.

Thénault, third in the Crystal Globe ranking, beat Australian Danielle Scott (86.62), who was ahead of her in the overall ranking. American Kaila Kuhn (76.86) finished third.

Three of the four Canadians in the running made it through to the final, where 12 skiers will be competing. Charlie Fontaine finished 10th with 64.74 points, while Rosalie Gagnon (61.10) took the last available place.

The surprise of the day came from American Winter Vinecki. The rider who held the yellow jersey before the start of the competition crashed on landing and finished 11th. This should affect the overall classification at the end of the day.

The competition continues with the men's qualifiers.

Alexandre Duchaine, the best Canadian in the World Cup standings in fourth place, leads a delegation of nine jumpers, including Miha Fontaine and Lewis Irving, Thénault's team-mates in the team competition at the last Olympics, and Émile Nadeau.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Feb. 10, 2024.