Sherbrooke’s Marion Thénault dominated the qualifying session for the first stage of the Lac-Beauport Aerials World Cup, while no less than eight Canadian jumpers advanced to the next round.
The team bronze medalist from the Beijing Olympic Games obtained the highest score of the morning at Le Relais Ski Center for her double back somersault punctuated by two twists, or 90.94.
Thénault, who fell 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 maneuvers, which, she believed, would allow her to to qualify for the final, or even the super-final.
The first step is successful.
Thénault, third in the crystal globe ranking, beat Australian Danielle Scott (86.62), who is ahead of her in the general ranking. American Kaila Kuhn (76.86) finished third.
Three of the four Canadians competing advanced to the final, where 12 skiers will compete. Charlie Fontaine finished 10e with 64.74 points, while Rosalie Gagnon (61.10) obtained the last available place.
The surprise of the day came from the American Winter Vinecki. The one who held the yellow jersey before the start of the competition fell on landing and finished 11e. The general ranking should be affected at the end of the day.
Five more
Lewis Irving subsequently led a delegation of five Canadian jumpers who joined the ladies in the final.
Irving took third place in qualifying with 111.31 points. He was only beaten by the leader in the general classification, the Chinese Guangpu Qi (123.01), and his compatriot Windi Xang (117.26).
Miha Fontaine (105.31), Émile Nadeau (103.27) and Alexandre Duchaine (100.20), winner at Deer Valley last week, made a group shot from seventh to ninth place. Anthony Noël (94.62) obtained 12the and last place giving access to the final.
The counters are reset to zero for the next stage, where the first six athletes will obtain their ticket to the super-final.
The site will host a second stage on Sunday. All that will remain is the two stages of the World Cup in Almaty, Kazakhstan, to decide between all these beautiful people for obtaining the crystal globes.