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Freestyle Skiing
Freestyle Skiing began in the 1930s,
Norwegian skiers began using ski acrobatics in alpine and cross
country training. While not considered a competitive sport,
professional skiing exhibitions in the United States featured
performances of what would later be called freestyle.
Freestyle skiing, or "hotdogging," began to develop further
throughout the 1960s and into the 1970s. The free-form sport had
few rules, and wasn't without danger.
The International Ski Federation (FIS) recognised freestyle as a
sport in 1979 and brought in new regulations regarding
certification of athletes and jump techniques in an effort to
curb the dangerous elements of the competitions. The first World
Cup series was staged in 1980 and the first World Championships
took place in 1986 in Tignes, France. Freestyle
skiing was a demonstration event at the Calgary Games in 1988.
Mogul skiing was added to the official programme of the
Albertville Games in 1992 and aerials was added to the program
of the Lillehammer Games in 1994.
Currently(2006) there are two main disciplines of Freestyle
Skiing; Aerials and Moguls. A new branch of freestyle skiing has
recently emerged and is called New school skiing.
Aerial Skiing
Aerialists ski off ski jumps made of snow that
propels the athlete up to 60 feet in the air. Once in the air,
aerialists perform multiple flips and twists before landing on a
37 degree inclined landing hill. The top men aerialist jump
maneuvers consist of performing triple back flips with up to
four or five twists. There has been quad back flips performed on
snow, but currently (2006) they are not legal in competition.
Scoring
Aerial skiing is a judged sport and competitors
are judged on jump takeoff(20%), jump form (50%) and landing
(30%). A degree of difficulty (DD) is then factored in for a
total score. Summer Training
Aerialist train their jumping maneuvers during
the summer months by skiing off specially constructed
water-ramps and performing their jumps into a large swimming
pool. A water-ramp consist of a wooden ski ramp covered with a
special plastic mat that when lubricated allows an athlete to
ski down the ramp towards a ski jump. The skier
then skis off the
wooden jump and lands safely into a large swimming pool. A burst
of air is sent up from the bottom of the pool just before
landing to break up the surface area of the water, thus
softening the landing of the impact. Skiers
reinforce the skis that they use for water-ramping with 1/4 inch
of fiberglass.
Summer training also includes training on trampoline; diving
boards and other acrobatic or gymnastic training apparatuses.
Mogul Skiing
Mogul skiers ski down a field of moguls taking
air twice on the way down. They are scored on the form of their
turns, the quality and difficulty of their two aerial maneuvers
and their speed.
2006
Winter Olympic Games
Alpine skiing
10 km Sprint Men:
| Medal |
Athlete |
Time |
| Gold |
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| Silver |
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| Bronze |
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12.5 km Pursuit Men:
| Medal |
Athlete |
Time |
| Gold |
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| Silver |
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| Bronze |
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20 km Men:
| Medal |
Athlete |
Time |
| Gold |
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| Silver |
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| Bronze |
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4 x 7.5 km Men
| Medal |
Athlete |
Time |
| Gold |
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| Silver |
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| Bronze |
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2002
Winter Olympic Games
Freestyle Skiing
Aerials Men:
| Medal |
Athlete |
Score |
| Gold |
Aleš Valenta (CZE) |
257.02 |
| Silver |
Joe Pack (USA) |
251.64 |
| Bronze |
Alexei Grichin (BLR) |
251.19 |
Valenta completed five twists in three flips to take the
gold, while defending Olympic champion
Eric Bergoust, in first place after the first jump, fell
on the second after jumping too hard and ended up in last
place.
Moguls Men:
| Medal |
Athlete |
Score |
| Gold |
Janne Lahtela (FIN) |
27.97 |
| Silver |
Travis Mayer (USA) |
27.59 |
| Bronze |
Richard Gay (FRA) |
26.91 |
Before a crowd of 14,237, Lahtela performed a
near-flawless run with a quad twist and triple twist spread
to win the gold.
Jonny Moseley, the defending Olympic champion and crowd
favorite performed his unusual
Dinner Roll jump in both the preliminary and final
rounds but was slower than the medalists, and finished
fourth.
Aerials Women:
| Medal |
Athlete |
Score |
| Gold |
Alisa Camplin (AUS) |
193.47 |
| Silver |
Veronica Brenner (CAN) |
190.02 |
| Bronze |
Deidra Dionne (CAN) |
189.26 |
The second Australian winter gold was by Camplin instead
of
Jacqui Cooper, who injured herself before the
competition.
Moguls Women:
| Medal |
Athlete |
Score |
| Gold |
Kari Traa (NOR) |
25.94 |
| Silver |
Shannon Bahrke (USA) |
25.06 |
| Bronze |
Tae Satoya (JPN) |
24.85 |
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Credits
: Parts of this article are licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the
Wikipedia article
"Freestyle Skiing".
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