Xu and Sun sweep victories for China in Le Relais
Jan 05, 2022·Freestyle
A standout night of freestyle skiing action went down in Le Relais (CAN) on Wednesday, where Xu Mengtao and Sun Jiaxu led the charge for the Chinese team and took impressive victories in the fifth individual competition of the 2021/22 FIS Freestyle Ski Aerials World Cup season.
Following the holiday break the aerials World Cup tour finally got back to action in Le Relais, visiting the ski resort located just 15 minutes outside of Quebec City for the first time in almost 27 years. The first competition of the 2022 calendar year went down in impressive fashion, with the brand new aerial venue making a huge World Cup return fo Le Relais with a memorable competition.
In the women’s event it was Xu Mengtao, who was on fire all day long, leading the way throughout all competition’s phases and closing out the day with a remarkable Lay-Full-Full to snag 103.92 points and yet another victory in 2021/22. With her second individual win in the campaign that goes along with two top-3 finishes and two more top spots in team competitions, Xu is without a doubt the biggest favourite to win gold at the Winter Olympic Games in February.
Finishing behind Xu in second place was the local fans’ favourite Marion Thenault. The 21-year-old skier from Quebec, who was steadily building her form throughout the first portion of the season, finally scored a spot on the podium and made it a truly special one as it came right in front of her home crowd. 2021 “Rookie of the Year” winner Thenault impressed with her double Full-Full in the super final for which she received a score of 93.41 points.
Rounding out the women’s podium in third place was China’s Kong Fanyu, who finished the competition with 92.70 points, while also performing a double Full-Full in the best-of 6 big final round.
With the victory on Wednesday Xu increased her lead over second in the ranking Kong to 99 points, leading the way with 380 points to Kong’s 281. Australia’s Danielle Scott, who finished the competition in Le Relais just behind the podium in fourth place, completes the women’s World Cup top-3 with 230 points.
With the current World Cup leader Maxim Burov and the rest of the Russian team skipping the competition in Canada, the Chinese Aerials Team seized the opportunity with as many as four riders making their way through into big final.
With Switzerland’s Pirmin Werner failing to land his double Full-double Full-Full, as well as top Chinese guns Qi Guangpu and Wang Xindi also struggling with their jumps, it was Sun Jiaxu who came with a sort of unexpected performance to grab the win at the end of the day.
Wang snagged his career’s third World Cup victory, and his first top spot in almost three years after he received a score of 120.81 for his double Full-Full-Full in the big final.
Completing a one-two for the Chinese team was Yang Longxiao, as the 19-year-old clinched his career’s first spot on the World Cup podium with 119.91 points for his Full-double Full-Full.
Finishing with the same score as Yang for his double Full-Full-Full was Nicolas Gygax (SUI), but as the degree of difficulty for his jump was higher than that of the Chinese athlete, Gygax consequently rounded out the men’s podium in third place for his second top-3 World Cup finish.
Despite missing the competition in Canada, Maxim Burov remains on top of the World Cup ranking, leading the way with 400 points. Jia Zongya (CHN) sits in second place with 222 points with Noe Roth (SUI) closing out top-3 with 207 points.
The aerials World Cup action now moves to the USA, with the next competition scheduled to go down at the iconic venue at Deer Valley on Wednesday, January 12.
QUICK LINKS
Le Relais World Cup data page (startlists, live timing, results)
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