Québécoise Captures Silver Medal and First Podium Finish of Season
Marion Thénault made an impression at the World Cup aerials competition on Wednesday at the Le Relais Ski Centre in Lac-Beauport in her home province of Quebec.
“It was a day of emotional ups and downs! I had to keep fighting until the very end, but I’m super happy with my result,” she said, grinning ear-to-ear at the conclusion of the event.
As the twelfth and final athlete to advance past the qualification rounds, the Sherbrooke native placed fifth in the first final before upping the ante on her last jump of the day, where she performed a double somersault with three twists that earned her 93.41 points and a silver medal she won’t soon forget.
“My objective for this year was to reach the podium, which I came close to doing in Finland at the beginning of the season. I ended up doing it today, and at home to boot! It wasn’t my best day ever, but it was good enough. I just had to keep pushing. I adjusted my mindset and it paid off,” explained Thénault, who earned two podium finishes and the title Rookie of the Year during the last World Cup campaign.
In today’s final, only China’s Mengtao Xu succeeded in outperforming the 21-year-old Canadian. Xu, who holds the top spot in the World Cup rankings, put in a flawless performance, racking up 103.92 points in the final round. Her compatriot Fanyu Kong rounded out the podium with 92.70 points.
The only other Canadian in the super final today was Flavie Aumond of Lac-Beauport, QC, who achieved her highest career individual result with 72.21 points and a sixth-place finish.
Naomy Boudreau-Guertin (Boischatel, QC) and Justine Ally (Lac-Supérieur, QC) were halted in the first final. They finished 11th and 12th, respectively.
On the men’s side, Victor Primeau (Lac-Beauport, QC) and Alexandre Duchaine (Quebec City, QC) were the only Canadians to advance past the qualifiers. They finished 11th and 12th, respectively, just ahead of their teammates Pierre-Olivier Côté (Lac-Beauport, QC) and Nicolas Martineau (Mirabel, QC), who finished 13th and 14th.
Miha Fontaine (Lac-Beauport, QC), Anthony Noël (Quebec City, QC) and Émile Nadeau (Prévost, QC) placed 17th, 20th and 30th in the competition, which was won by Jiaxu Sun of China.
The next World Cup aerials event will take place in Deer Valley, Utah, on January 12.
