It was with her arms in the air and a smile on her face that Marion Thénault climbed to the second step of the podium at the Freestyle Skiing World Cup (aerials) in Deer Valley, Utah, thanks to a score of 97, 99, the best score of his career.
From the first final, Marion Thénault implemented a strategy that had paid off at the Relay two weeks ago: going there with one of her best jumps from the first final. The game plan was executed to perfection and the Quebecer received the best score during this round.
“I was really happy with the grade I received! The strategy paid off to use my two most difficult jumps in the finals. I qualified for the super final in strength and it motivates me to make such big jumps, I couldn’t have done better! she rejoiced, in an interview with Sportcom.
Once in the super final, Thénault was the last to start. Australian Danielle Scott had just executed a flawless jump that had destroyed Thénault’s chances of gold medals. No need to feel sorry for the 22-year-old skier who came back strong to win the silver medal, with another score of 97.99.
“I knew it was technically impossible to match Danielle Scott’s score, but I still wanted to go for it and I finished with the silver medal. I was a little nervous, but I was able to use that stress to my advantage,” added Marion Thénault.
The Chinese Fanyu Kong accompanied Scott and Thénault on the podium.
Flavie Aumond was the other representative of the Belle Province in the first final where she finished ninth.
On the men’s side, Alexandre Duchaine and Anthony Noël both managed to place in the top 10 in the first final. Duchaine finished seventh, while Noël had a career-best World Cup result with a 10e place.
Victor Primeau missed the finals by less than 10 points, placing 15e during qualifying. His teammates Nicolas Martineau (25e), Pierre-Olivier Côté (28e) and Miha Fontaine (30e) also saw their working day end in qualifying.