. world ski news : Ski cross and aerial World Cups open in Italy and China - 25 December 2009 - 21:12
The 2010 Games in Vancouver will witness the Olympic debut of ski cross. It is therefore no wonder that the season opening in San Candido/Innichen (ITA) also was met with great interest by the teams and media alike. The first time FIS Freestyle World Cup host in Northern Italy saw Switzerland's Michael Schmid and Sweden's Anna Holmlund go two for two as each of them won both of the opening ski cross World Cup events. The relatively short course seemed to favor strong starters and the qualification results also played a critical role. Holmlund won all her starts from qualification throughout all heats on both days. The ski cross season will continue St Johann/Oberndorf (AUT) on 5th January 2010.
The aerials season also kicked off in Changchun (CHN) with back-to-back individual competitions and a trial mixed team event. The host nation claimed 10 of the 12 possible individual podium places as only Belarus' Anton Kushnir could challenge the Chinese team in both of the men's events. China also went 1-2 in the mixed aerial team event before Switzerland. Both aerial and mogul World Cup series continue in the New Year in Calgary (CAN) on 8th-10th January.
FIS news
23/12/2009