(Sportcom) – Marion Thénault, Miha Fontaine and Alexandre Duchaine were in high spirits after the first round of the mixed team aerials at the Freestyle Skiing World Championships. The Canadian trio, united for the first time in this event, ranked fifth on Sunday in Georgia.
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Duchaine joined the two Olympic medalists following the injury of Lewis Irving, which had to end his season last month.
Thénault was the first of the team to start. Bakuriani’s winds made it difficult for the athletes and they had to adapt accordingly.
The second in the World Cup standings faltered slightly on landing and collected 76.23 points. Miha Fontaine and Alexandre Duchaine each experienced difficulties in their maneuvers. They scored 83.50 and 68.44 respectively.
“At the moment, the energy is low and we are still disappointed,” said Thénault who, in the absence of Irving, is the oldest of the Canadian squad at 22 years old. It’s very windy here and it got into our heads. We weren’t able to deal with that uncertainty, even though we had the right speed. In the end, we did not have confidence in our means.
The gusts have lasted for a few days in Bakuriani and have also forced the cancellation of a training session this week, in addition to extending those that may have been presented.
Since her last warm-up jump went badly, Marion Thénault opted for simplicity with a less elaborate figure than initially planned.
“It was still conservative, but I don’t regret it. The guys also changed their jump. In the end, it wasn’t a question of difficulty, but of execution. We lacked confidence and we mismanaged everything.
The three Quebecers accumulated 228.17 points, just over 8 points behind the Kazakhs and a place in the second run, “despite major errors in all the jumps”, as Thénault pointed out.
The Americans were crowned world champions with 331.37 points. The representatives of China (320.71) and Ukraine (255.56) also made it to the podium.
“We know we can be on the podium, but anything can happen and change drastically in the team event. We did not deliver up to our abilities,” added Marion Thénault.
Necessary adaptation
The three skiers will have to quickly turn the page, because the qualifications of the individual events are scheduled for Tuesday, while the finals will be disputed the following day.
Marion Thénault, three-time World Cup medalist this season, finished sixth in the 2021 worlds in Almaty. Miha Fontaine and Alexandre Duchaine were ranked 22nd and 24th in Kazakhstan.
The team competition will have allowed them to have a good overview of the winds and the track in order to refine their preparation. Mental balance can sometimes be hard to find when the wind blows and Thénault wants to be in the best possible frame of mind this week.
“It’s not something you control, but it’s hard not to think about it too much. It’s a question of scoring, but also of safety if you don’t have the right speed, mentioned the Sherbrooke resident. Our coaches are very good and take care of the data. We can trust them. Our job is to focus on our jumps and today we lacked confidence in ourselves.
“I don’t want to experience another disappointment. It motivates me for the next few days and I no longer want to play “safe”! she concluded.
Flavie Aumond and Émile Nadeau will join the three Quebecers for the individual events.