Scott and Roth close out big Deer Valley week with wins
Feb 07, 2021·Freestyle
A hugely successful three-day showcase of the best of freestyle skiing wrapped up on Saturday in Utah, where aerials competition closed out the 2021 Intermountain Healthcare Freestyle International in typically spectacular fashion. There Danielle Scott of Australia made a triumphant return to competition with the women’s win, Noe Roth (SUI) went all-out for top spot on the men’s side, and the host US squad put three athletes on the podium to close out another phenomenal week in Deer Valley in style.
While things felt a little different in Deer Valley this year, with all competitions taking place during the day and none of the thousands of spectators we would typically expect at DV in attendance, all three of the moguls, dual moguls and aerials World Cup competitions to go down this week in Utah took place smoothly, safely and with the highest caliber of skiing possible. All of which is a testament to the organisers, course workers and volunteers here in Deer Valley and their commitment to running the best possible event, despite the circumstances.
Scott makes triumphant return to World Cup
With all five of this season’s aerials World Cup competitions on the women’s side of things being won by an athlete from either Australia or the USA, and with those nations putting two skiers apiece into the Deer Valley superfinal, it seemed more likely than not that the trend was going to continue in Saturday’s competition.
However, before the final jumps of the day you might not have been inclined to bet on Danielle Scott, seeing as how the competition was not only her first World Cup event in over three years, but was also her first back after rupturing her ACL ahead of the 2019/20 season.
Despite the lack of competition reps over the past three years, Scott showed no rust throughout Saturday’s competition, with her technically precise style and cucumber cool demeanour intact from start to finish of the day. Clearly, her training in the lead-up to her return went well.
After making it through the first final round in fifth place, Scott dropped in second in the superfinal and put down a squeaky clean double-full, full, that earned her a score of 90.59 and the early lead.
Starting just after Scott was top US hopeful Winter Vinecki, going for an identical double-full, full, but with a couple of minor mistakes in her form in the air and a harder compression on the landing she would end up just back of Scott with a score of 87.77.
After a couple of lay-fulls from the next two competitors Zhanbota Aldabergenova (KAZ) and Kalia Kuhn (USA) that wouldn’t challenge the leader, it was all down to Scott’s Australian teammate and current World Cup leader Laura Peel with the final jump of the women’s competition.
However, Peel’s jump very nearly ended up in disaster, as the 31 year-old began to lose control just before takeoff of the large triple jump.
In an incredible display of athleticism, Peel was somehow able to control her rotations as she rocketed into the air, looking more like a slopestyle skier than an aerials one as she completed a wild, off-axis triple and landed on her feet. While her save was hugely impressive, it wasn’t what the judges were looking for in an aerials competition, and Peel would finish up sixth on the night and Scott would be assured of her first World Cup victory since the 2014/15 season.
“It’s unbelievable,” a beaming Scott said from the finish area, “I haven’t competed in a little while and it’s been a bit of a tricky time, so to come back and win today, I’m just blown away. It’s crazy. Today was interesting. I did a good jump in qualifying, then came back out and did some just ok jumps in training, and then really put it down in the competition. I’m super stoked.”
Vinecki would take second place for her third straight podium, while her teammate Kuhn would round out the top three in third for the second World Cup podium of her career.
Peel, meanwhile, would maintain her hold on top spot on the women’s aerials World Cup leaderboard, with 410 points, while Vinecki would close in on her Australian rival, moving up to 343 points with just one competition left in the World Cup season.
Roth brings last-run magic to Deer Valley
Over in the men’s competition it was last season’s crystal globe winner Noe Roth stepping up in a big way to bag his first career win at Deer Valley.
Already with a third-place, bronze-medal performance from the Utah 2019 world championships and with a runner-up result from last season’s Deer Valley World Cup, Roth took things one step further on Saturday with a standout performance from start to end of the competition.
Before Roth dropped in for his final jump of the evening, though, we saw his teammate Pirmin Werner put down a solid double full, full, full to earn a score of 114.93, just to be one-upped by Justin Schoenefeld, the lone US representative to make in the men’s superfinals, who threw down the same jump, but better, to earn a score of 123.08 and a temporary lead.
As the top skier out of final one Roth would have the final jump of the day, and he would make no mistake, electing also to go with the double-full, full, full but executing it to near perfection. With excellent form in the air and a stomped landing, Roth would earn a score of 126.70 and hand a little heartbreak to the host US team while claiming his second career World Cup win.
“It feels amazing,” Roth just before the awards ceremony, “I love this place. I’ve podiumed three times in a row here, and I’m really, really excited to get this win. It all went pretty good today. I struggled a little bit in training, but it got better and better throughout the day and the last jump was one of the best I’ve done in a while.”
Schoenefeld would have to settle for second, claiming his second career World Cup podium and his first on home soil. Meanwhile, third place Werner would also celebrate his second career top-3 results, and the first where he would share the podium with his teammate Roth.
While the men’s crystal globe race has already been decided, with Russia’s Maxim Burov wrapping things up by winning five-out-of-five World Cup competitions leading up to Deer Valley, Roth’s win moves him up to 284 points and into second place overall above Pavel Krotov (RUS).
Next up for the aerials World Cup is the season finale in Almaty (KAZ), which is slated to take place on March 13, 2021.
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