FREESTLE SKI. VOSS, NOR, 6 MARCH 2013 – On a near-perfect day and on a near-perfect course, the top 18 men's and ladies' moguls skiers in the world took to the hills of Myrkdalen seeking to lay claim to the title of 2013 FIS Freestyle World Champion.

Hannah Kearney of the USA takes 1st place during the FIS Freestyle Ski World Championship Men's and Women's Moguls on March 06, 2013 in Voss, Norway. (Photo: Alexis Boichard/Agence Zoom/Getty Images Europe)

By the time things were all said and done we were left, quite fittingly, with a podium roll-call that read very much like an up-to-date print-out of the top of the World Cup moguls leaderboard.

Mikael Kingsbury of Canada takes 1st place during the FIS Freestyle Ski World Championship Men's and Women's Moguls on March 06, 2013 in Voss, Norway.
(Photo: Alexis Boichard/Agence Zoom/Getty Images Europe)

On the men's side Mikael Kingsbury (CAN) placed 1st, followed by teammate Alex Bilodeau (CAN) in 2nd and Patrick Deneen (USA) in 3rd, exactly the same as the three men find themselves stacked up in the Cup rankings.

Mikael Kingsbury of Canada takes 1st place during the FIS Freestyle Ski World Championship Men's and Women's Moguls on March 06, 2013 in Voss, Norway. (Photo: Alexis Boichard/Agence Zoom/Getty Images Europe)

In the ladies' competition, Hannah Kearney (CAN) was able to edge Justine Dufour-Lapointe (CAN), who in turn was just able to hold off Heather McPhie (USA). Had Miki Ito (JPN) not slipped in between Kearney and Dufour-Lapointe to relegate the Canadian to 3rd and McPhie to 4th, the ladies' final too would have ended as a carbon copy of the World Cup standings.

Miki Ito of Japan takes 2nd place during the FIS Freestyle Ski World Championship Men's and Women's Moguls on March 06, 2013 in Voss, Norway. (Photo: Alexis Boichard/Agence Zoom/Getty Images Europe)

Hannah Kearney of the USA takes 1st place during the FIS Freestyle Ski World Championship Men's and Women's Moguls on March 06, 2013 in Voss, Norway. (Photo: Alexis Boichard/Agence Zoom/Getty Images Europe)

The performances by Kearney and Kingsbury were both a testament to those athletes' consistency as well as an exclamation point placed at the end of two incredible years for both athletes.

Both the American Kearney and the Canadian Kingsbury claimed their respective moguls and freestyle overall Crystal Globes in 2012, both managed to string together some incredible, record-breaking streaks (16 wins in a row for Kearney, ending in 2012; 19 podiums in a row for Kingsbury, ending in February of this year), and both seem destined to again take home the moguls Globe.

Mikael Kingsbury (C) of Canada takes 1st place, Alex Bilodeau (L) of Canada takes 2nd place, and Patrick Deneen of the USA takes 3rd place during the FIS Freestyle Ski World Championship Men's and Women's Moguls on March 06, 2013 in Voss, Norway. (Photo: Alexis Boichard/Agence Zoom/Getty Images Europe)

Hannah Kearney (C) of the USA takes 1st place, Miki Ito (L) of Japan takes 2nd place, and Justine Dufour-Lapointe of Canada takes 3rd place during the FIS Freestyle Ski World Championship Men's and Women's Moguls on March 06, 2013 in Voss, Norway. (Photo: Alexis Boichard/Agence Zoom/Getty Images Europe)

The World Championship title was the first for Kingsbury and the second for Kearney, though her last one came eight years ago, in 2005.

Neither athlete was challenged especially hard on their way to gold, until Kingsbury's teammate Bilodeau threw down what was the highest-scoring run of either day of moguls competition up to that point. Kingsbury then, as he does, simply dropped in and went one better, with a blisteringly fast run punctuated by two perfect airs to score a 91.96 to beat Bilodeau's 89.83.

For Kearney, it was more or less a cake walk, as the decorated athlete registered a score nearly 6 full points stronger than Ito's best effort, 89.0 to Ito's 83.06.

Today, truly, the two most deserving athletes won. Whether those two individuals are able to carry theit momentum into the ever-unpredictable world of dual moguls remains to be seen.

QUOTES:

Hannah Kearney - "I'm really happy with my runs. I haven't been happy all year. I thought I could make improvements in my skiing but I wasn't, so I made that a goal here and I trained really well and each run got better for me today, so that's what made me really happy. And as you said, it's been eight years since I won the World Championships, and I also made that a goal for this season."

Hannah Kearney of the USA takes 1st place during the FIS Freestyle Ski World Championship Men's and Women's Moguls on March 06, 2013 in Voss, Norway. (Photo: Alexis Boichard/Agence Zoom/Getty Images Europe)

"In this sport you have to be on top of your game all the time or your career isn't going to be successful. There are always new athletes coming up the line and new tricks to perfect it's a constant game, and it's a pressure that I put on myself. I have to say that my injury this season definitely helped me keep my focus. When I was watching my competitors train and compete it only pushed me to not be complacent and to never take my health for granted. It became my epic challenge to battle back and fight for that yellow bib."

Hannah Kearney of the USA takes 1st place during the FIS Freestyle Ski World Championship Men's and Women's Moguls on March 06, 2013 in Voss, Norway. (Photo: Alexis Boichard/Agence Zoom/Getty Images Europe)

Justine Dufour-Lapointe - “It was not easy,” she said, “And I’m so happy about my medal today, but in fact it’s not the medal so much as the path that I took to get it. The path was tough but I made it.

Justine Dufour-Lapointe of Canada takes 3rd place during the FIS Freestyle Ski World Championship Men's and Women's Moguls on March 06, 2013 in Voss, Norway. (Photo: Alexis Boichard/Agence Zoom/Getty Images Europe)

"Actually, I think it was the hardest thing I have had in my career. When I crashed in the qualification I did not expect it at all. It was never in my head that that could happen and I really cried hard. I cried for two straight minutes, then I said to my mind, ‘It’s not over; you have to take off that pain and fight for the next qualifications. It’s your last chance.’ After that it was so much clearer in my mind — I fought and I finished at the top of the second qualification. And from all of that I learned a big lesson, that I am really strong and even if I get a big smash I can always stand up and fight again."

Mikael Kingsbury - "I have been waiting a while for this and dreaming about the day that I would earn the World Championship title. I worked hard all summer to get to this day and I’m very happy. When I woke up this morning I was in a World Championship mood. I felt perfect. My body was perfect, so I knew it could be today."

Mikael Kingsbury of Canada takes 1st place during the FIS Freestyle Ski World Championship Men's and Women's Moguls on March 06, 2013 in Voss, Norway. (Photo: Alexis Boichard/Agence Zoom/Getty Images Europe)

Alex Bilodeau - "I’m happy about my skiing today. I delivered what I could deliver and it wasn’t enough to win, but I did what I could. Congratulations to Mikael for his win."

Alex Bilodeau of Canada takes 2nd place during the FIS Freestyle Ski World Championship Men's and Women's Moguls on March 06, 2013 in Voss, Norway. (Photo: Alexis Boichard/Agence Zoom/Getty Images Europe)

"I cam here to finish first, and it's never fun to not achieve your goal. It wasn't enough for the judges."

Patrick Deneen of the USA takes 3rd place during the FIS Freestyle Ski World Championship Men's and Women's Moguls on March 06, 2013 in Voss, Norway. (Photo: Alexis Boichard/Agence Zoom/Getty Images Europe)

Patrick Deneen - "Tomorrow I'm just going to focus on having a good clean run and getting into the (dual moguls) finals. Hopefully they get both sides of the course even and we have a really good event."

FISfreestyle.com
6 March 2013

Mikael Kingsbury of Canada takes 1st place during the FIS Freestyle Ski World Championship Men's and Women's Moguls on March 06, 2013 in Voss, Norway. (Photo: Alexis Boichard/Agence Zoom/Getty Images Europe)

***

China takes men's and ladies' gold in Voss aerials

VOSS, NOR, 7 MAR 2013 - The third medal event of the 2013 Voss/Oslo FIS Freestyle World Ski Championship is in the books and two new aerials champions have been crowned in Norway.

Predictably, it was a pair of Chinese athletes who claimed the top of the respective ladies' and men's podiums, as the incredible Mengtao Xu and her countryman Guangpu Qi put on dominant performances to win gold in their respective competitions.

Mengtao Xu of China takes first place during the FIS Freestyle Ski World Championship Men's and Women's Aerials on March 07, 2013 in Voss, Norway.
(Photo: Alexis Boichard/Agence Zoom/Getty Images Europe)

When Xu lands her jump she is more or less unstoppable, as she's the only competitor in the ladies' division even attempting manoeuvres off of the bigger jumps. Her back lay, double full, full jump in the final earned her a score more than 20 points better than silver medallist Veronika Korsunova (RUS), making her superiority in the ladies' aerials game more than clearly apparent.

For her part Korsunova - a former trampolinist - kept her cool and cleanly executed her back lay, lay jump to score the first podium of her career. She was followed up by bronze medal winner and birthday girl Danielle Scott (AUS), her emerged as the leader from a strong Australian team that placed four athletes in the ladies final of 12.

In a strong men's final Guangpu Qi simply crushed his competition, throwing an dizzying back double full, full, full, double full to win by an incredible margin of 20.27 points.

Guangpu Qi of China takes first place during the FIS Freestyle Ski World Championship Men's and Women's Aerials on March 07, 2013 in Voss, Norway.
(Photo: Alexis Boichard/Agence Zoom/Getty Images Europe)

Qi was followed up by Travis Gerrits (CAN), who executed cleanly his back lay, double full, full but fell well short of Qi's mark.

Last to jump was World Cup Crystal Globe winner Zongyang Jia, who threw a nearly flawless back full, full, double full, but got pitched forward on his landing. While his land-front flip-ride away clean combo thrilled the crowd, it did nothing good for his score with judges, and Jia was forced to settle for the bronze FIS medal.

QUOTES:

Mengtao Xu - "Right now I'm very excited. I'm so happy. This is my first World Championship. Last I win here and this year I win here again. Voss is my lucky place."

Veronika Korsunova - "I'm so excited. I can't believe it right now. It's my first podium ever. I'm very happy. Thanks to my coaches and my coaches from former sport, trampoline."

Danielle Scott - "It's been really good have the whole team here (in the finals), but I didn't really expect to be the one to come out on top. I've been pretty consistent, but today it went in my favour."

Guangpu Qi (through translator) - "I feel very happy and very excited. Two years ago I almost won this competition, so I worked very hard to get back here. We have a very good team and good teamwork. My coaches corrected some of my technical problems, so thanks to them."

Travis Gerrits - "Finishing second is a win for me today, because it qualifies me for the Olympics. So I can walk away very happy here. My injury last year put me out for a long time, but I've come back strong this year and I'm super stoked."

Zongyang Jia (through translator) - "I feel lucky today and I think team China was lucky today. Before the final I performed very well, but on the last jump I made a little mistake."

FISfreestyle.com
7 March 2013